


Knocked Him for a Time Loop

by elfinder



Category: Glee, klaine - Fandom
Genre: Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-26 06:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 58,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/962502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfinder/pseuds/elfinder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/><img/><br/>In the year 1903, young magician Blaine Anderson longs for an escape from his impending arranged marriage. A spell gone wrong thrusts him into the year 2013, where he meets Kurt Hummel. Someone equally surprised to find the boy he’d chosen as an essay subject suddenly appear in his bedroom. As if trying to figure out how to get Blaine back to his own time wasn’t hard enough, both started to ponder the same question: Were they star-crossed lovers or merely kindred spirits thrown for a time loop?</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fic for the Klaine Reverse Bang, one I ended up pitch hitting for. It was such a joy to write!
> 
> I am currently re-reading through this to catch any silly typos or errors I missed when I posted. Sorry for those.

Prologue

Blaine Anderson's Journal entry.  
April 25th, 1903:

_I swear I am this close to solving the problem and I feel my next attempt will be the one to work. The age of industry is upon us and if technology is making so much headway, the same should be said for magic. What caused my breakthrough is still quite surprising; it seems my family’s crazy notion that music and magic are somehow linked is more than mere poppy-cock. What was once a fevered dream each generation has chased after for decades could hold actual merit. When I sing, I feel it. There is something -- for the lack of a better word -- magical happening. Spells are easier to conjure if music is involved as well, or to me it feels like that is the case. Of course, my reasons for delving into this theory are for my own personal gain and not to make my family proud. In my parents’ eyes I often feel like I am a commodity to exploit. Dramatic claims, I know, but this is the only place I can express my bitterness. How lucky for my parents to have such a magically gifted child in the family now, one with so much 'promise.’ In my young life I had heard that word uttered countless times over, right along with others such as ‘duty’ and ‘responsibility.’ I have discovered being special means you are expected to be great, successful, and god knows what else. As always, the first expectation is to remain a good little obedient son, who does what he is told and not ask why. Cooper may be the first born and thus the illustrious heir to the Anderson line, but he lacks magical ability. So the duty to continue to our family’s magic born blood-line falls to me, halleluiah._

_My use of sarcasm seems appropriate to me, I am sure many eighteen-year-olds would find the idea of living in such splendour and entitlement very appealing. Even I must admit my life in many ways is something I should show proper gratitude for. One happy thing in my life is becoming the youngest student to be admitted the best magical university in Ohio, but it isn't enough. The bad comes along with the good and in my case, rich and powerful is not all fun and games -- far from it. There is always a price to pay and mine is how I am to be married in a week, against my will, with no say in the matter. As cruel as that may sound, it is not the whole truth, my will is known only to me. Any attempts to subtlety hint to my parents that I am too young to marry are conveniently ignored. So here I sit, with pen in hand, wondering what my life will become._

What indeed? The young man seated at a writing desk had no answer, hence his whole dilemma, and he let out a tired sigh. Sometimes it was hard to put down what you truly felt even in the written word and it was not due to writer’s block. Nor was it the fear of anyone reading his inner and most private thoughts in the expensive looking journal. The protection spells cast would remain for years, as long as he was alive and able to reapply them every year. His decision to keep a journal had been on a whim but over the years, it had turned into an outlet for the feelings he couldn't say out-loud.

“I'm unsure what will life will become or even is, hence my pitiful state,” Blaine whispered. He knew what was expected of him and that brought no real sense of comfort to the distressed young nobleman. Blaine was set to marry Grace, a seventeen-year-old girl, where their betrothal to one another was an arrangement made since childhood. Once wed, the next order of business for the new couple would be to start having children and secure the Anderson line would have mages for years to come. Anyone who was born into privilege knew that you needed to marry within the right circle and arranged marriages were still quite common. Of course Blaine knew he would do the same and for the longest time he was fine with the prospect. The upside of such an early betrothal meant there had been idle time for Blaine to become acquainted with his future bride. Grace was a lovely, sweet and witty young girl and over the years they'd grown close. But as the years passed and Blaine neared adulthood he discovered there was still one thing missing; love. Again that was hardly required and marrying for love was still a rare enough occurrence in nobility. Blaine knew his affection for her would never invoke true passion or grow to love over time. The reason was Blaine's darkest secret, if his family had any inkling if their son wasn't romantically or even physically interested in women, there was no telling what might happen. Blaine didn't even have a proper word for what he was, anything heard in passing were not said in a kind light. His pause in writing had brought nothing but more frustration so he dived into the real root of his current problem, at least in writing.

_While I may not know what my life will become, I do know who I am. I, Blaine Anderson, am a boy who likes other boys, or the male gender in general. Scandalous, I know, but is it so wrong for me to wish there was a place where this would not be so shocking? I know I am not the only one; you hear things, whispers and idle gossip. I often feel like I am alone, which leads me to daydream about what could be and what I long to find. Love, that is what I desire the most, to find someone like me, who I can hold dear. Call me a hopeless romantic, but the world is changing. Why should I not marry someone of my choosing? In an age where automobiles are real and magic can do so much, how is that still such an impossible dream?_

While Blaine's attempts to let his heart out were helping defuse his temper, his chance to do more was interrupted by a sudden reality check that came in the form of a loud knock on the door, and Blaine had little time to do anything but secure his journal before the door swung open. Revealing Cooper, his older brother and heir apparent, who walked into his bedroom leading an entourage behind him.

Cooper waltzed over to his baby brother, finding no need for proper courtesy in such a private setting. “The day has arrived! Blaine, my boy, your moment of happiness has come at last,” Cooper nearly sung with delight.

The ability for Blaine to mask his true feelings under a polite smile had been well perfected over the years and this time it was no different. Blaine was quite used to knowing what he was expected to act like, being the second son to a powerful and wealthy family. But when he was around the likes of his brother and servants, he allowed himself to be a little less curt, to a degree. “The wedding is still a week away, Cooper,” Blaine corrected.

“I'm quite aware, but it won't be long now. Just bide your time,” Cooper tutted.

“Oh I'm biding it, believe me,” Blaine replied cryptically.

Cooper was too off in his own little world as usual to notice any hidden meaning in his brother's reply and so he continued his task. Snapping his fingers to put his reason for barging in on his brother into action. Soon Blaine was approached by his personal valet and eased out of his jacket without any explanation. When Blaine's pants were nearly removed by a second servant that was where he drew the line and demanded an explanation.“What in the world is going on?”

“The tailor's finally finished your wedding outfit! Mother sent orders to see it fits you properly,” Cooper explained, gesturing for the undressing to continue.

With the answer to the intrusion explained, Blaine relaxed and allowed himself to be disrobed so he could try the fancy purple suit on, since he knew resisting was pointless. Instead he gave into his fate and let himself to be dressed up like he was some fancy doll. While his valet was currently fighting with his top collar, Blaine glanced over at Cooper, who was grinning at him in the way he loathed. “I'm surprised you agreed to this, or that mother would not see to it herself,” Blaine admitted.

“Ah, well, she is currently off with Grace and Lora, spending time with her current and future daughters-in-law seemed more enjoyable I suppose. You know how much she wanted a daughter, after having the needed son for an heir,” Cooper explained.

“You would think she is one to be married, with how giddy she's been,” Blaine joked, using humour to yet again hide his true bitter mood on the subject.

As soon as Blaine's obligations were over for the time being, he went back to finishing his entry while he was still left in peace -- but not for long, since Cooper had informed his brother Blaine was expected to join the ladies for tea in an hour. There wasn't much time and he was desperate to find the missing link to his plans, if he had any hope in changing his destiny.  
____________________________________________________________________________

****************************************  
Blaine Anderson's Journal entry.  
May 2nd 1903:

_I have it! I know where I went wrong before and not a moment too soon. The wedding is tomorrow and my current unease cannot be described as cold feet. I cannot go through with this wedding. Grace deserves to marry someone who can treasure and love her. When she told me how happy she was yesterday, it filled me with so much guilt it nearly broke my heart. She has countless suitors, one of whom I know truly loves her. I cannot lie to such a sweet girl. If I were to give into my fate it would eat away at me and ruin anything good in my life. Many of my decisions are due to my own selfish ways but then, what is the point of living a life without love? Perhaps loveless marriages were far more accepted once, but in this day and age, that tradition should give way for the better. Change does not happen without people daring to act, so I am going to find him: my soulmate. I will use any means that I can to do so -- meaning magic. There is always the chance that the spell I've crafted will not work and I will marry Grace in the end. If that is my fate then at least I know I did try, if only to fail. If we marry, then I refuse to dishonour her and myself by resorting to infidelity. Having some sort of secret tryst, hidden and shared only in fleeting moments is no answer, nor a future I strive to find. Love while needing to hold back so much would be too painful to endure, this I know._

_I suppose there is nothing left to do but try the spell. If all goes according to plan then my soulmate shall appear before me. With everyone distracted with wedding preparations, I will not have a better chance and by tomorrow it shall be too late. I have left no physical evidence of my plans for a quick get-away, as it could give everything away if found. I already know there will be no place for us here, so we shall look for somewhere to belong together. The idea of eloping, even when no legal marriage can take place, sounds very romantic to me. I feel so oddly poetic, when really on the inside I am anything but -- my heart is racing!_

_No more time to linger, here goes, and if anyone ever reads this journal someday, wish me luck._

_Signed  
Blaine Devon Anderson_

Underneath his final journal entry were what anyone but the owner of journal would think were nothing but scribbled words mixed with musical notes. Blaine decided to dress up for the event and in an act of defiance he did so wearing his wedding attire. His whole plan was hardly foolproof, as there were far too many unknown variables to account for. The main one was the idea of pulling an unsuspecting young man from his life and transporting him here against his will. Blaine hoped that like himself, he too was longing for love and would overlook Blaine's uprooting him once their eyes met. Hopefully what Blaine had to offer would make up for that and they would start their life together.

Blaine was mindful to hide the fruits of his year-long labour; the countless stacks of books he'd combed through were no where in sight. The simple looking spell was not so easy to create and was nothing any mage would usually attempt, the complexity alone made the whole adventure rather amusing in an ironic way. A radical new way of thinking, making such a hybrid spell were old tradition combined with new age and the joining of magic and music. If it worked then this could be the very breakthrough his family was searching for, but Blaine hardly cared about that. He was fed up with going along with what his parents wanted and his first test to break free had worked. When he'd firmly admitted he needed some time alone before the big day, he was rewarded, little did they know his real reason for needing the cover of solitude. To start his true intent Blaine grabbed his journal and crept towards the music room. Blaine held his breath and he took a seat at the bench, his fingers hovering over the keys. “What are you waiting for? Let's get this over with,” Blaine grumbled to himself in urging.

With the first note Blaine felt the a flash of energy and the magic resonating in tune with the music flawlessly. Good, it was all going to plan. He continued, and the power created from the hybrid spell grew with every uttered word and played note. At the right moment Blaine's light murmurings changed to proper sung lyrics and with it came a shimmering light that engulfed the young musician. The result was no surprise to Blaine, since he was singing a spell and not merely lyrics to a self-composed original song. By this point the music had fully taken over anyway and where Blaine was singing his heart out, fuelling the building power more and more.

Hearing music in the Anderson manor was nothing to cause any reaction to, as it was quite frequently heard and as the music started to trail, people within earshot only stopped to smile. There was nothing strange about a groom to be playing a tune to help cause his nerves before his wedding day.

This was no different for the lunch party situated outside at the Anderson's patio area, where Cooper, Lora, their young son Joshua who were joining Grace and Mother Anderson for tea.

It was the bride to be who first commented on the pleasing sound. “Is that music I hear?” Grace asked with a puzzled look.

Everyone who had been chattering away feel silent at her question, but there was still no cause for concern.

“Most likely Blaine, off playing the piano again,” Cooper said with a light chuckle, paying no mind to the music and going back to his conversation.

All seemed quite picturesque around the house, until sound erupted from within the building, coming to blast outside. The burst and initial wave of energy imploded on itself at the source, back in the now brightly lit music room, where light intensified to blinding proportions. The ground shook the entire structure and surrounding area but the sudden stop did nothing to calm its occupants. On the contrary, the dining party raced inside with Cooper heading the charge. He bolted straight towards the music room, not knowing what he would find.

There was no sign of Blaine, only sheet music scattered across the floor, ornate decorations shattered and where it looked like a small tornado had torn through the room.

“Blaine? Are you there?” Cooper shouted as he dashed into the room, countless others close on his heels.

But there was no sign of the youngest son of the Anderson family. As he neared the piano, Cooper wished that meant he hadn't been there at all. But when both magic and music were involved there wasn't really anyone else it could be. Cooper found the one sole remaining clue in the room, an item he recognized: Blaine's journal, the one he had given as a gift on his 14th birthday. He bent down and picked up the book, skimming the pages. "Still blank," he said with a sigh. His relief came from Blaine warning his brother that attempting to read his journal would be futile thanks to his protection spells. But then, the magic binding the spells started to crumble and the words came into view. "No!" he stammered. Cooper's blood went cold, that could only mean one thing, spells stopped working when their creator perished. Seeking answers to his brothers whereabouts, Cooper skimmed the pages for any possible clues. Finding none at first but then his eyes widened as he read on and he could barely believe what Blaine had wrote. Then, at the bottom of the last filled page was a spell, one that even to Cooper's ungifted eyes, looked very ominous. “Oh Blaine.... why couldn't you just have talked to me first?” he breathed with remorse.  


“Is Blaine here?” Grace called out as she stepped into the room.

Feeling numb to the idea that Blaine was lost, he slowly turned to watch his mother, wife and brother's intended to appear in the room, looking confused and bewildered. He was too shocked and grief stricken to fully comprehend what was happening to calm their rising concern.

Cooper's mother, noticing the state her eldest son was in, stepped up to clasp his cheeks, which were now damp with tears. “Cooper... what is it my dear?” she pressed.

“Blaine was here... he cast some sort of spell...” Cooper alluded.

“Where is he now?” Lora urged.

The tears wouldn't stop. Somehow, even without any solid proof, Cooper knew the answer, even though he wanted to be wrong with all his heart. The cold hard truth was very apparent in his mind: the spell protecting his brother's journal, like he had guessed, had come undone because the one who cast it was no longer of this world. “Blaine, he's... gone..."

**************************************  
Chapter One

Lima Ohio, present day, March 2013.

At one point everyone in the greater Lima area knew the story of the lost Anderson boy, but now it was more like second hand news. One hundred and ten years ago, the youngest son of one the most powerful and the best known magically gifted families in the state had disappeared without a trace. No legitimate proof to his fate was ever made, only countless theories that lacked any sound evidence. The mystery to Blaine Anderson's fate became less urgent as the years passed and now, over a century later it was treated more like an urban myth.

But there was still one curious soul left in the city, a young man who marched to a different beat and had a personal interest in piece of local history. Like Blaine, Kurt Hummel was a teenage boy living in the same region, who also had a strong magical gift. While Kurt knew the story better than most, he hadn’t thought about it much until the opportunity to revisit it came in the form of a school assignment in his magical history class. When the assignment was given at the end of the lesson Kurt was now a man with a mission and he knew just where to go.

When Kurt reached his locker to put his books away his friend Rachel, who was in the same class, approached him. "So any idea what your essay will be on, Kurt?" she asked.

He did indeed and Kurt flashed his friend a playful smile to prove it, “Do I ever, Rachel. In fact I'm heading right to the library now to start my research!” he exclaimed.

Kurt's excitement made Rachel very curious, not that Kurt wasn't studious, but he was acting more over the top than normal. "That sounds like a good idea, I have no clue what mine will be. May I join you?"

It wasn't like Kurt owned the library so he nodded and walked down the hallways with Rachel in tow. He was in too good of a mood to brush her off anyway, he was dying to find anything he could about Blaine. "I'm doing my essay on Blaine Anderson, you know, the boy who disappeared in 1903," Kurt explained.

Rachel raised an eyebrow at Kurt, "You mean the one who was gay?"

Kurt rolled his eyes back at her, of course that was the only fact people seemed to remember about him these days. "Yes, we know we was gay, but my choosing his story isn't only because of that," he said.

"Then what are some of the other reasons?"

"He was a boy with a great deal of magical talent for one thing, like myself. But having such a gift didn't make his life any easier," Kurt sassed. He could relate to that. When it came to magical ability, nothing in Kurt's life had been made easier from having so much potential. Magic hadn't saved his mother from dying in a car crash when he was seven, or made her passing any easier to bear. Casting spells that could make objects move on their own didn't mean the bullies stayed away or that he was excluded from harassment. "We both experienced the pressure from having so much magical prowess," he added.

"Things are very different from Blaine's time, Kurt. Now anyone with the ability can take magical classes right from grade school to College," Rachel said.

"I know, I know..." Kurt grumbled back, and he did know of course. If you were to look at him Kurt doubted people would guess his magical ability, which, according to his teachers was very rare these days. Kurt seemed to have unlimited amounts of power and a sharp mind that aided his memorizing and performing spells. Above all, his drive and dedication to the craft was something the current generation usually lacked. What Kurt looked like was a young gay man trying to make his way in the world and escape his back water town, whilst looking fabulous. Great promise or not, excelling in magic didn't instantly give you a free ticket to the finer things in life. Now the people of power who held endless riches were film stars, rock artists and, naturally, those with the magic touch.

"Blaine hid his sexuality, while I'm keeping my true magical potential on the low down, to survive in school. Different circumstances but the same sort of struggle," Kurt said.

"We're supposed to choose a subject that speaks to us on a personal level..." Rachel started, only for Kurt to stop her with a stern look.

"That's why I picked Blaine. No one in this town seems to know his personal story. Did you know that he was a romantic?"

"No, but it's clear that you do," Rachel replied.

Kurt nodded, "He wanted to find someone to love... who could love him back. Doesn't that sound familiar?"

Rachel's affectionate smile gave her answer and she squeezed his arm lightly, "It does..." Rachel agreed but her attempts to tease weren't over yet. "Is he cute?"

Any attempts to dodge the question would be futile and Kurt knew it, Rachel was in one of her pushy moods. "From what I remember, yes, he's very dreamy, but again my interests in him aren't so superficial."

"If you say so..." Rachel chimed, needing one final remark before stopping her fun.

The pair of friends made their way to the library and there the search for information began in the local news – magic related section of Lima's historical archives, where Kurt fished through dozens of newspaper headlines and articles. None of them gave any concrete answers to what exactly had happened to Blaine Anderson, but this was nothing new to Kurt. He was already quite familiar with basic facts and how there weren't many to go on when it came to figuring out the young boy's fate. Kurt wasn't trying to be the one to finally solve the mystery anyway; he was more interested in his personal life up until his disappearance.

Two hours later and Rachel had reached her limit in researching and Kurt was making it very clear he wanted to be left alone. She stood up and stretched, walking over to where he was seated before a sea of books. "Well I'm done for the day. Good luck, Kurt," she told him.

"Thanks, I really wanna do well on this essay..." he mumbled back, not bothering to look up at her.

The comment made Rachel curious enough to linger for another moment, because Kurt already had decent grades. "But you're doing well in school, you don't need to try this much."

Kurt's dream school was situated in the heart of New York City, a place he longed to live. "I need to graduate with high honours if I want to get into my first choice. It's a highly competitive school and they only take a number of new applicants each year. I know I'm probably stressing for nothing; my teachers tell me I'm a shoo-in but... I still want to give it my best," Kurt explained to her.

Rachel took her leave and eventually Kurt did the same. When he returned home he had an impressive amount of material to go through for the research portion of his assigned essay. But it didn't take long for him to notice as he dug deeper and read through every footnote, article and new paper entry to realize information was simply being recycled and repeated. Why was there no information pertaining to Blaine's personal life? Was his being gay so scandalous that any insight had been carefully removed from history? It was bitterly sad that it had taken Blaine's sudden disappearance for him to be recognized at all, when his striking magical ability should have been a reason on its own. He was the youngest student in the US to be admitted into the Magical University of Ohio. That had to mean something, even back then when such a gift was more common place.

Just when Kurt had started to give up hope in finding a means to gain some personal insight on Blaine, he found a possible lead. A little inconspicuous looking article in an obscure newspaper that looked like the 1900s version of a tabloids paper. It mentioned a personal journal belonging to Blaine Anderson had been published by the Anderson's heir and the boy’s older brother, Cooper. It seemed his doing so was a scandal Cooper's family had quickly tried to hide but now Kurt had a new mission: he needed to find a copy. Alas, as Kurt read on he discovered the chances to find one were slim to none, because the print run had been so small. No more than fifty copies in total were printed and most of those were recovered by Blaine's family and promptly destroyed to keep his greatest secret under-wraps and avoid scandal. It was so unfair and Kurt had invested too much to give up now, letting his stubborn determination urge him onwards.

Since searching through the many books piled up and surrounding him from his stop on the bed was going nowhere, Kurt decided to take a breather. “Time to use the wonders of technology,” Kurt muttered, climbing off the bed to fetch his laptop. If people could use the internet to research their family tree and go back hundreds of years to find their earliest ancestors, that had to bring back a sliver of hope. To possibly find the elusive journal of Blaine Anderson, Kurt first googled 'Blaine Anderson's Journal' and began his epic hunt for possible copies to find and purchase. No such luck there; not a single copy was anywhere to be found, aside from one extremely overpriced and, to Kurt's informed eyes, obviously fake edition being put up for auction on eBay. Now Kurt chose to go in a different direction once more, reminding himself that countless books were being digitally pirated. Maybe by some fluke that had happened to the journal. The hidden underbelly of magical history had gone wild over the years. You never knew what could be found unless you were brave enough to look.

Later that night Burt Hummel, Kurt's dad, back home after putting in long hours at work, stopped in front of his son's door when he noticed his light was still on. As he eyed the crack of light peeking out from the bottom of the door, Burt made a puzzled face. Sure, Kurt wasn't your average teenager, but his staying up this late wasn't unheard of. But it was strange, even for him, more so because there was no chatter seeping through or the signs that Kurt was having a late night movie marathon. Curiosity mixed with light concern got the better of him and Burt figured there was no harm in checking on his kid, just to be sure. “Hey Kurt, you still up?”

“Yeah, you can come in,” Kurt's voice trailed back through the door.

When Burt gently pushed the door open to reveal his son, what he saw inside was quite the eye opener. Vast quantities of books were stacked up on Kurt's bed; the teen was sitting cross legged with his laptop sitting on a large pile directly in front of him to become a makeshift desk. Kurt's face was glued to screen of his computer, wearing his usually disregarded reading glasses, never bothering to look up to greet him. “Whoa Kurt, what's all this?” Burt asked warily, hands waving to emphasize what he meant by “this.”

Because his dad's tone held no judgement Kurt finally bothered to glance up from his screen and give Burt a weak smile. “I'm busy working on an essay for school... or I'm trying to,” Kurt grumbled, continuing his feeble attempts.

The answer didn't make Kurt's actions any less confusing; sure, he had always given a lot of an attention to his academic studies but not this much. “Maybe I should ask what's with all the books then? Cause it looks like you checked out half the library here, kiddo.”

“I'm doing an essay on Blaine,” Kurt began, only to be interrupted.

“You mean that Anderson boy who went missing over a hundred years ago?”

“The very same. His story always interested me... you know that.”

“I thought they never found out what happened to him?”

Kurt threw his hands up in the air as that burning question made him become his usually dramatic self. “That's just it, Dad, even after all this time no solid answer to the mystery was ever found! There have been countless theories, like suicide, murder or his running away, but a body was never found. Blaine vanished without a trace!”

Tonight seemed to be ones of those nights where Burt kept asking questions. “Any idea what the real reason was so far?”

Kurt shook his head. “No, not really... the best I can find is -- the agreed theory is -- the spell Blaine was trying to cast went haywire. He simply disappeared off the face of the globe, never to return.”

Burt knew the basic details of Blaine's story just like most people, but not because his son was gay; he'd known about it before Kurt had come out to him. When you were the parent of a child who turned out to have the magic touch, a story about a teen who dematerialized thanks to a spell gone wrong wasn't cheery subject matter. Losing his wife eleven years ago had nearly broken him and the risk that came with Kurt learning to use his magic ability was downright scary at times. The only thing that kept Burt becoming overthrown with stress was how Kurt took his magical studies very seriously. He might have dabbled in a spell or two but those were harmless and some were pretty clever. Household chores were sure easier to deal with now, but one had to still be careful. The penalties for breaking even one of the many restrictions given for any gifted individual -- student or full-fledged mage -- were harsh. Considering what a single person with twisted morals could do with that amount of power, such precaution was understandable. Burt also knew it was usually pointless in trying to keep Kurt from doing something he felt so strongly about.

“I'm not really looking to solve that mystery anyway. What I really want is to gain some personal insight on his life. I want to know who he was and maybe find possible similarities between us, aside from our age, magic ability and being gay,” Kurt added.

“There anything left?” Burt joked.

“That's exactly what I'm trying to find out. It appears Blaine kept a journal... so I'm now trying to find a downloadable copy. I want to know who he really was. Another reason why his journal would be so useful in writing my essay!”

“I'm guessing if you're up this late, the search isn't going too well?”

The first clue to that assumption being correct was for Kurt to let out a tired sigh, continuing to take off his glasses and pinch the sides of his nose. “Nope, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.”

“That's my boy. Just try not to stay up all night, okay?” Burt warned.

“It's Friday night... so sleep isn't mandatory,” Kurt argued.

“Doesn't mean I wanna hear you clicking away all night though,” Burt said.

“Right, um I'll just keep at this for another hour and then I'll call it a night,” Kurt assured.

“Good luck,” Burt said in closing, leaving his son in peace.

With nothing else to break Kurt's focus, he decided to give it one last try. Kurt would stay up for the next 48 hours if it meant he'd find his prize. But the valiant sacrifice proved unnecessary, when, 40 minutes, two false leads and three computer viruses later Kurt's efforts were rewarded.

“Yes!” Kurt cheered in a half whisper, barely able to contain his joy and not wake his family in celebration. He had it, Kurt had found his glimmer of hope and all thanks to magicanderthe23rd. He had an epub copy of Blaine Anderson's personal journal. Kurt could barely survive the wait to hook up and load the file onto his Kindle and he was jittery with anticipation when the process was finally done.

“Here we go... please don't be another cheap joke,” Kurt pleaded as he touched the screen to bring the book up to read. But it wasn't, there was no inconsiderate and obviously fake entry at the front and Kurt felt like the wind had been knocked out of him as he read the first line.

_Here lies the personal expression of my dearest brother Blaine, who has been lost to us, and I felt the need to share his story. Not many people might find this journal very enthralling but I wanted to honour his life and let those who might be, learn his true story. Below is everything he wrote for the last five years of his life when he started writing his memoirs down. Nothing has been altered, I left everything as it was, even the strange spell at the end. I must legally assure reading or reciting the said spell has never triggered a reaction. I only left it in case in the future, the secrets to what he was attempting might be revealed._

_Cooper Anderson._

That touching disclaimer almost brought a tear to Kurt's eye and he knew he couldn't put his Kindle down, not now. He barely managed to turn his main light off, switching to a dimmer lamp and hauling the many books off his bed. Once he was dressed in proper night attire, Kurt nestled down under the covers and got ready to read until he would only stop from the need to sleep. The longing to read actual words Blaine had written when he was alive and experiencing them was far too tempting to resist.

Blaine Anderson's Journal entry.  
March 3rd 1898:

_Hello journal, seeing that you were a gift from my brother for my 14th birthday I decided to try writing in you. Little does Cooper know his gift will be far more rewarding, I hope anyway. People say that writing your feelings down can do wonders for dealing with them and that is just the sort of outlet I need. Because there's something that's been eating away at me and for a number of years, that I cannot put a finger on. Maybe from writing in here, I might get a better idea, so I will give this a try._

Kurt read onward through that first entry, which mainly described the happenings of the day and how enjoyable Blaine's birthday celebrations had been. Instantly Kurt made sure to memorize the important names dropped in these first few pages. Cooper, Blaine's older brother by nine years and the heir to the Anderson line; Lora, Cooper's wife; mother was an obvious one, and then there was one other that Blaine seemed reluctant to list: Grace, Blaine's betrothed, a young girl two years his junior. Blaine's true opinions about her weren't revealed until Kurt got to another entry nine months later.

Blaine Anderson's Journal entry.  
December 23rd, 1898:

_Well it has happened, Grace and I shared our first official kiss, which was my first and hers as well. Cooper had sneakily planted a sprig of mistletoe under where we were talking by the fire place and went off, leaving us unchaperoned. It's still so fresh in my mind but not in the way anyone would think a young boy should feel. That is just it, I felt nothing, when we kissed. The kiss was good, slightly clumsy but understandable when you take our inexperience into accord. Her lips felt soft and warm but there was no emotional connection and... dare I say it, no physical reaction. My being a romantic aside, I had imagined my first kiss would be a bit more, exciting? Where were the butterflies in my stomach, or fire works? There was nothing like that, just lips touching. Grace is such a wonderful girl, why didn't kissing her make my heart race? What in the devil is wrong with me? I feel like my body is mis-wired or knocked out of alignment. When it was over, the way Grace looked at me, with real affection and I think, genuine love only made me feel guilty. I hid my true feelings well, as I always do, and with the use of a clever spell I distracted us both and put on a good show. Now, when it is late at night and I am alone, my fear and dread returns. I keep thinking back to another time, one that I cannot for the life of me forget. How is it that when I am kissing my fiance I feel nothing. Yet when I find myself in close proximity to Lora's brother Ethan, all it took was him giving me a light smile and my heart starts to race? Would everything that should happen when I kiss a girl happen properly if my partner were a boy instead? I am not so naive as my family might think, I have heard the whispered gossip. How some men are straying from women for the company of men. The terms given to those men and what they are doing, I cannot even repeat here. But now, I am lead to believe, I am one of them. I always thought my magical gift would be my biggest difference from the regular populace. It seems I was wrong and I have no idea what can be done, or if anything ever will be._

Now Kurt actually was crying from what he was reading, because this confusion and heartache wasn't from a creative mind who was bringing life to fiction. No, Blaine Anderson had been a real person and the words he wrote touched Kurt on such a deep and personal level. Needing a moment to recollect before he could continue reading, Kurt reached for a tissue during his quiet sniffling. “Oh Blaine, I wish there was a way to tell you... that what you're feeling isn't wrong and that... you're not alone,” he breathed.  
_______________________________________________________________________

“Kurt, you look like a total zombie,” Rachel declared with concern.

The observation fit because Kurt sure felt like a member of the undead from his slumped position on a chair in the choir room. He had spent the entire weekend in his bedroom, practically reading non-stop and only forcing breaks when his bodily needs were too much to ignore. Never before had Kurt turned into such a shut-in and certainly not because of a book. Blaine Anderson's journal might have never been a top seller but Kurt couldn't put it down and he had read the span of four years in less than two days. In fact, despite his hardly conscious state, even at that moment Kurt wished he could abandon glee club and finish the final year of Blaine's life. His dad had made him go to school, scolding that Kurt needed to reap what you sew and shot down his wanting to call in sick that morning. Kurt had spent a good amount of the day snoozing in class and used his lunch break to visit the nurse's room and have a much needed lie down. If it weren't for the fact that Regionals was fast approaching, Kurt would have ditched Glee club that day without a twinge of guilt. But if he were to do that, Rachel might steal any chance of getting a solo and the performer in Kurt wasn't going to be put aside for anyone, not even Blaine. Still, Kurt ended up having to give himself a good incentive to get through the delay. Like rediscovering just how handsome Blaine Anderson was, so Kurt could prove his appearance matched with what Kurt's memory recalled.

Kurt didn't have the energy to get catty, since in this case he was sure he looked as bad as he felt. “I have noticed,” he muttered sleepily, resting his head on his folded arms so he could chill until glee club got underway.

But the chance for the worn out teen to get any peace was thwarted yet again when another one of his friends felt the need to comment on his pathetic state. “What's with him?” Finn asked as he stepped into the choir room.

“I was just going to ask...” Rachel began.

“It's pretty simple. I'm tired from lack of sleep... so please, while your consideration is endearing... leave me in peace,” Kurt hissed.

Glee club crawled by at a brutally slow pace but at least it enabled Kurt to catch up on enough sleep (since trying to stay awake quickly failed) so he could drive home safely. Kurt rushed up to his bedroom and his Kindle, which he’d left at home to resist temptation. Before starting to read the final stretch of entries before the author became MIA and unable to continue, Kurt finally claimed his just rewards. When Kurt had started his search about Blaine on Friday he had intentionally resisted any image results, not that there many good ones. Luckily, Blaine's journal included photos and portraits straight from the Anderson's family collection.

Bringing up the first image, which was a black and white actual photo of Blaine when he was sixteen, Kurt was rendered dumbstruck with what he saw. “Good lord he is freakishly attractive,” Kurt blurted out in shock. He had always assumed Blaine was handsome, like many young privileged men at that time conveniently turned out to be. But as Kurt gazed at the photo on his Kindle, his good looks went beyond Kurt's wildest dreams. Even without the aid of colour, Kurt knew through his research that Blaine's eyes were brown and that his slightly slicked back but still fluffy hair was black. What struck him the most was Blaine's kind and alluring smile, and Kurt found himself swooning over a mere image. Maybe it was because Kurt had always had a thing for vintage that he found the photo so enticing, or perhaps it was entirely due to Blaine.

“Oh I really wish we could have met...” Kurt said with longing. “Maybe then I could have been that soulmate you wanted to find,” Kurt added dreamily.

The first mention of Blaine's wanting to meet his one true love had begun at the start of 1903, when Blaine's marriage was nearing and time was essentially running out for the conflicted young man. As Kurt read each entry Blaine made (which were quite regular for the next five years) the captivated teen started to get a sense of the type of person Blaine Anderson had been. One who seemed to emote a sense of confidence and charm but deep on the inside, had countless fears and insecurities. But never about his abilities when it came to magic, that was one place were Blaine's passions were expressed with joy. His endless delving into how grateful he was about being able to learn and unlock the secrets of magic were awe inspiring. Back then, the age Blaine had been living in was a true turning point for the magical frontier. Where at long last the notion that magic wasn't sinful and dark had been shaken and its true worth and potential for human society was taking precedence. Little did Blaine know that when World War I would break out in fifteen years, those once shunned mages would step to the front lines and be praised as heroes.

Eventually Kurt had made googly eyes at the first photo for long enough so he went onto the next. This time it was a painted portrait where Blaine looked equally striking. Each image made Kurt wish they were born in the same era, or that time travel was possible, so they could exchange words. The final photo was with his bride to be Grace, taken for their wedding announcement in the local paper. Kurt wondered if anyone would bother to notice that behind Blaine's polite and proper smile was a boy who was planning to throw away his prosperous life on a spell and a chance for love. Kurt continued his reading and reached the final page, feeling sad that it had come.

_...No more time to linger, here goes and if anyone ever reads this journal someday, wish me luck._

_Signed  
Blaine Devon Anderson_

Just as expected, Kurt Hummel had lost himself in the emotional roller coaster that he had ridden while reading the inner thoughts of Blaine Anderson. He had been so hopeful and his final three words showed that unrealistic optimism: wish me luck. Blaine had to have known when he had written it that if anyone was reading his journal it meant his plans had failed. Or maybe Blaine had figured he would find his soulmate and the pair would run away together. That he would continue to write in his journal, only to tell of truly happy times spent with the love of his life. What had started out as a simple essay subject had led to Kurt being deeply affected, right down to his very soul. Kurt was relieved that no one was home to see him breaking down, as he wouldn't have been able to properly explain his state. So instead, Kurt allowed himself to grieve for a boy he had never met and who hadn't gotten his wish. When Kurt regained enough composure to continue, he noticed Blaine's little message technically wasn't the last thing he wrote. There was a strangle jumble of letters and under further investigation, Kurt realized this was the spell Cooper had touched on before. Blaine's scratched handwriting took a bit of studying to decipher but eventually Kurt realized the words between the incantations were more like sheet music.

“He somehow made this spell a music-magic hybrid... how oddly fascinating...” Kurt muttered to himself.

The notion that music and magic had some common trait had been pursued over the last century and no real results were made. There were probably some controversial fanatics who still clung to the idea that the answer was out there. Kurt was a little more open minded than most, because it was true that nearly everyone in glee club who could actually sing had some magical ability, no matter how miniscule. Rachel had a lot of potential, but she chose to focus on her music talents alone, aiming for nothing but Broadway.

Kurt didn't think there was any harm in studying Blaine's spell for a while, just as Cooper had assured in writing. If the best and brightest minds back during Blaine's disappearance had come up with nothing, why would that change now with him? For some reason, as he read and deciphered the musical notes he felt inclined to recite them. Once Kurt dug his old keyboard out of his closet, he scribbled the spell down on a note pad and translated it to something he could perform. In a couple of spots the spell seemed incomplete and Kurt searched on the net for what could fill the gaps. In the span of an hour Kurt felt quite proud of the end results, though he wasn't sure what he expected from his efforts. Did Kurt actually think he could use this unsuccessful spell and find his own soulmate, a person he had been dreaming to find as badly as Blaine had all those years ago? What if he too was wiped off the map and vanished into nothing, leaving behind a grieving family and a dad that had already lost so much. If Kurt thought the spell could actually work then he never would have dared to try. But this was all for fun and curiosities sake, nothing more. For some reason Kurt felt like if he did this he could give his final respects to the boy he had felt so connected to over the last three days.

“What's the harm,” Kurt assured himself as he struck the first key.

The fruits of Kurt's labour were where Blaine's work had been fined tuned and made into a song more than a spell. If he were to look at it one way it was like Kurt was composing a song in Blaine's memory, where maybe he could even sing it in glee club sometime. If anything the chance to let out all his built up emotion from the past few days was quite welcome and Kurt let everything out. Unbeknownst to the entranced performer, the same effect that his tribute subject had caused was happening again. The same flaring white light, the building power of magic mixed with the beautiful melody, all of it. Until Kurt's angelic voice continued to sing a spell that had started over a hundred years ago. But when Kurt belted out the final note with impressive vocal cords a double negative effect resulted without his being aware, with a silent explosion of light and magical power. There was no chance for Kurt to even react to the unbelievable happenings, which only he encountered hidden away in his bedroom. Kurt was left wide eyed and rendered silent from the light show before him. An aftershock of power hit him, knocking him clear off the bed and onto the floor.

His body aching with new pain, Kurt scrambled up from his uncomfortable landing position. Kurt clutched the sides of his head and he felt like his batteries were now running dangerously on low. Because he was a mage in training, Kurt knew what it felt like after being drained from casting a powerful spell. But the idea that his silly attempts with Blaine's creation had caused all this seemed impossible. “What just happened?” Kurt stuttered, still half in shock.

Eventually Kurt recovered enough to notice peeking out from the other side of Kurt's bed, was a foot. Hardly believing the possibility, Kurt crept on his hands and knees to investigate, albeit slowly. Attached to that foot was an ankle, leg and... that's when Kurt's brain stopped working properly. There, lying sideways on the floor, was a human body and one that was brightly dressed in a dashing outfit. Kurt blinked and closed his eyes, hoping if he gave them a quick rest then when he opened them again that body would be gone. No such luck; it was still there and Kurt's mind began to silently panic as he crawled closer still. The fallen figure's back was facing Kurt, lying on its – no, his, Kurt corrected (because he quickly identified the body’s gender as male) -- side. The most obvious observation after that was what the man was dressed in: a rich purple three piece suit, red brocade waistcoat, brown dress shoes and as Kurt's gaze trailed upwards, a curly head of black hair.

Goosebumps formed on Kurt's skin at that discovery. No, it wasn't possible. To find out one way or the other, Kurt leaned over the fallen male and grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him to lie on his back. The face that met Kurt straight on made him fall over backwards in disbelief, like he had just been struck. “No way,” Kurt hissed, scrambling back up so he could give that face a second look. There was no mistaking it. Right before his very eyes was the exact same face Kurt had been gazing at a short while ago, only this time in the flesh. Everything Kurt saw before him alluded to the fact that the young man who was lying on his floor was none other than Blaine Anderson, the lost wayward boy, like he was ripped straight from history and brought back to life. The physical proof didn't make Kurt's brain accept the scenario any better and he suddenly got a chilling thought. “Don't be dead... please, you don't need to be real, or him, but what you can't be is dead,” Kurt pleaded, reaching out press two fingers to his neck to feel for a pulse. Relief washed through Kurt went he felt it and as if Kurt's touch held some great unknown power, the figure's chest heaved up and down.

Eyelids snapped open to reveal to Kurt the most striking pair of soft brown eyes he had ever seen, which instantly looked up to stare at him in awe. It seemed impossible. There was just no way but somehow, in the pit of Kurt's stomach he knew. “Blaine?”

To further confirm the young man's identity, at the sound of that name he stirred to life, reaching out to cup the side of Kurt's cheek with his palm. “It's you... you're here,” he breathed.

Hearing his soft voice took Kurt's breath away. Tears streamed down his cheek from becoming so overwhelmed. He was at a total loss for words and could only stare wide eyed at the boy who looked exactly like Blaine Anderson, who pulled himself up into a sitting position.

But the young man who was now gazing at Kurt with such pure affection still knew his identity, despite his displacement. So focused on the beautiful boy before him was Blaine, that he didn't notice the change in his surroundings at first. He was too overcome with joy that his spell had worked and how he was now face to face with his destined partner. Happy tears followed and Blaine let out a choked up sounding laugh, unsure how to deal with the emotions he was feeling for the first time. “I have to admit, for all my faith in this coming to be, now that it's happened... wow,” Blaine gushed. There wasn't nearly enough time for Blaine to take in the dazzling young man before his very eyes. Where to begin? He was so handsome that Blaine felt truly flabbergasted, even when his state of dress was a little odd. Blaine brought his attention to boys eyes, the windows to the soul, and he found himself becoming lost in those crystal blue pits. Blaine assured himself no matter who he was or how he might look, Blaine would love his soulmate unconditionally. But maturity aside, he still hoped when their eyes met for the first time, who he saw would be stunning. That wish had been granted and Blaine found it hard not to fall in love with him right on the spot. _'Why stop myself, this is what I wanted,'_ he thought. “I never could have envisioned the likes of you. You are simply breath taking, right from head to toe!” Blaine gushed in merry disbelief, back to letting out his inner joy, where no thoughts of proper courtship rituals were in his mind. “It worked! The spell actually worked, I did it!”

Hearing the world “spell” almost made Kurt faint. What was going on? Why had a Blaine Anderson look-alike suddenly appeared out of nowhere?

Meanwhile Blaine was still on cloud nine over the idea of finding “the one” and escaping a loveless marriage in the process. “I feel like I could sing so loudly that the whole world would hear me!” he said with a shout.

Kurt gave a weak smile. He wasn't acting like his normal self but how would anyone deal with a long dead crush appearing out of the blue? “I can't believe that spell actually worked,” Kurt exclaimed, touching his cheek where Blaine had caressed it a moment ago. Of course that wasn't exactly true. Kurt hadn't tried to send Blaine to him, so 'worked' wasn't the proper word to use in this case.

Normally Blaine would never have been so forward but his usual proper demeanour was missing in his excited state. “You're familiar with magic then?”

Kurt nodded his head vigorously, “Oh yeah... quite, okay, um... before my mind gets away from me here... just who are you exactly?” he questioned, holding his breath as he awaited the answer.

“I am so sorry! Where are my manners! My name is Blaine Anderson,” Blaine introduced, outstretching his hand in greeting.

“No way!” Kurt gasped in total shock, taken aback by the name drop.

Blaine made a puzzled face, the strange wording made no sense to him, where exactly and how far had this wonderful fellow come from? “Please tell me your name?” he begged, hoping his identity would hold a clue. He certainly didn't look very foreign, at least when it came to his appearance. His light coloured skin, blue eyes and rich brown hair seemed entirely Caucasian. While his speech patterns sounded unmistakeably American, similar to Blaine's but less refined.

“Oh, it's Kurt! Kurt Hummel!”

“Kurt? What a wonderful name! I'm sure you have many questions to ask me! Which I will gladly tell you... please forgive my excitement... I am simply beside myself!”

“You have got to be kidding me... how is this even possible? I mean! You're dead!” Kurt blurted out in alarm.

Yet another sentence that caused Blaine's delight to waver. This was not how he expected their meeting would go. Of course there had been no real way to anticipate anything that could happen when he cast the spell. “I certainly feel like I am still among the living,” he joshed, hoping the use of humour would break any lingering tension.

“I know but...”

“I understand your confusion... finding oneself torn from their home and brought to...” Blaine began, but when he finally started to notice his new location he stopped mid-sentence. “Wait... this isn't the music room...” he concluded. In fact, as he craned his neck up and tore his eyes away from Kurt, he came to another surprising deduction. “Or any place that could be in my family’s manor for that matter,” he added. The best possible answer he could come up with at present was the spell had sent him to his soulmate by mistake. That wasn't a big problem, except Blaine now realized he had literally been thrown into the unknown. But there would be little point in regretting his rash decision now, so he chose to remain mature as possible, which wasn't much. “The spell must have brought me to you instead, interesting,” he added, still smiling away. Blaine couldn't think of anything that would ruin meeting the boy who would soon become the love of his life.

If only Blaine knew what had really happened, then Kurt wondered how his reaction would change and if his delight would remain. Kurt still found the whole idea very hard to accept, even when the proof was standing there right before him and looking far too handsome for words. The idea that time travel was possible and had just happened, words didn't begin to describe his surprise. Nor did Kurt know how to tell Blaine, it would likely break his already fragile heart to learn the spell had gone wrong. Or was it Kurt who had somehow altered the past and in his foolish attempt to recreate that spell, unintentionally ripped Blaine out of his own time-line. Would the fabric of the universe begin to collapse in consequence? Any book or film on the subject of travelling through time was often too confusing to make sense of. There was still a chance that Kurt was mistaken, however unlikely. Maybe this Blaine was a direct descendant of the one he was familiar with and had been named because of his uncanny resemblance. “Blaine...” Kurt began, still finding saying his name weirdly thrilling. “What is the last thing you remember before ending up here?”

“I was in my family’s music room, in Ohio, attempting to cast a spell to... well... if I may be so bold, find my soulmate,” he admitted softly.

That was the last piece of proof Kurt needed to solidify what his heart was already telling him to believe. By some amazing feat (or by a powerful amount of magic) Blaine had been pulled out of time and sent to the future. Which meant it was now the young magic student's duty to make up for his selfish mistake, accident or not (if he were even to blame). No matter how much Kurt had wished they could meet, the idea of ruining Blaine's chance at love made him sick with remorse. “I wish I could be your perfect match Blaine, but there's something you don't know,” Kurt said weakly, unable to go on.

Blaine felt an onslaught of nerves from Kurt's warning; had the spell not worked then? Why else had he been brought to this place? Any confidence Blaine might have about his spell going to plan was tested by his unexpected relocation.

Now he couldn't stop thinking about how many things could have gone wrong, none of which were very calming to his anxious state, and Blaine fought to keep his rising anxiety under control. Blaine knew nothing of Kurt's life, or how he would react to an excited boy announcing himself as his soulmate. There was no telling if Kurt would have the courage to throw his life away for love. Everything he had been so sure of was failing to pieces and Blaine felt like crying out with woe. How could he have been so stupid, not to mention selfish? Clearly he hadn't been thinking very much at all. Blaine had let the intense need to experience and feel love overrule any common sense. So focused on his own plight and how unhappy he had been with his life, he had missed so many important points. “I am such a fool... what have I done,” he wept. Blaine was going from one extreme to the other and without proper transition but he couldn't stop himself.

Watching Blaine's painful anguish wasn't any easier to endure and Kurt couldn't stop the overflowing compassion he now felt, mixed with his own regrets. He wasn't any better off than his living essay subject. Kurt wanted nothing more than for him to be exactly the person Blaine had been searching for, to offer this wonderful boy his heart and in turn, allow them both to experience a love that wouldn't be hidden away. Romance was always lovely to dream about but life hardly handed out such idealistic situations such as this. No, there was no way it could be so. Blaine's arrival was a mistake, one Kurt may have caused. Watching Blaine going through an emotional breakdown nearly sent him over the edge but he clung on. He picked himself up and touched Blaine lightly on the shoulder, coming to look into his woeful eyes. Before he could step up and attempt to reveal to Blaine how he was in the year 2013, there was one thing he had to say first. “I already know... who you are and what you've done, Blaine. It's not foolish... you wanted to find love, so you went for it.”

“But was it my right to try?” Blaine challenged.

“Who knows, but it shouldn't have been your parents’ right to marry you off to a girl against your will.”

Blaine's lowered head snapped up to gape at Kurt. It was true he had just admitted he was looking for his soulmate. But how did Kurt know that his arranged marriage to Grace wasn't something he wanted to go through with? Who was this Kurt and what powers did he hold? “How do you know that?” Blaine demanded.

“Because I read it... in this,” Kurt answered, holding out his Kindle for Blaine to see.

All it took was for Blaine to give a quick glance at the strange item in Kurt's hand for him to realize it was something he had never seen the likes of before. Heart racing, Blaine knelt forward to take it from Kurt's hand and his face changed to pure bewilderment. It was completely flat, like a book that held no pages inside, where the surface was smooth and unlike any sort of binding Blaine was familiar with. But what surprised him the most was finding written words on the front that looked like pages from a book. Then, as if there wasn't anything else that could shock him more, Blaine realized what was written there were words he was well versed with. “This is... I wrote this, that is my own handwriting!”

“It's your journal Blaine, the one I've been reading for the past few days. Right before you appeared. I was performing your spell, or a slightly updated version,” Kurt explained.

“You mean to tell me that my coming here wasn't due to my own attempts, but because of you?”

“It seems like it, but really I have no idea, it could be nothing more than a mistake on your end.”

“But I do not understand! I was supposed to find my soulmate. If that cannot be you... then why am I here?” Blaine demanded in his desperation.

How in the world was Kurt supposed to tell Blaine the reason, when his reaction was already heart-wrenching to watch? In the end, he couldn't answer Blaine's question honestly, not yet. He needed time to think and that was the one thing he was lacking. Instead Kurt let out a frustrated sigh, deciding to deal with the pins and needles sensation in his legs first. Kurt straightened up into a standing position, resisting eye contact with Blaine. He should have kept to panicking, that would have been easier. “I'm so sorry...” Kurt breathed. “But take a look around and I think you'll start to understand,” he urged, gesturing to the area they were currently in.

Blaine continued to study Kurt's attractive features, finding them distracting even now when he had more important matters to tend to -- which still involved Kurt, of course, but he now needed to focus on what was going on and not to dreamily gaze at the alluring young man. Kurt offered his hand to Blaine and the young gentleman took it without a moments hesitation. It was clear to Blaine that Kurt was having a difficult time with giving his answer, but Blaine didn't think it was done by choice. Well then, if Kurt was emotionally incapable of giving him any insightful answers, it would fall to him. Taking Kurt's little nudge in uncovering the mystery location on his own, he set to scanning the room for any clues, choosing to ignore the obvious one, the strange book-like device still in his hand and have a good look around.

It was a bedroom, no mistaking that, but nothing looked normal to him. The difference wasn't because Blaine's own home was far more extravagant looking in comparison either.No matter how dazed and confused Blaine currently felt, he still was extremely perceptive and of course, clever. The same mind that had been so focused on finding his one true love now was put to use to come up with the best explanation. It didn't take long for Blaine to form a theory, one that, while hard to fathom, was most likely. It all went back to Blaine's journal being in Kurt's hand but not the original copy. Of course time travel wasn't unknown to Blaine. What was so hard to grasp was that time travel had been achieved by someone so young and not on purpose. Again, the likelihood was not one Blaine thought could happen in the world he knew. But it was so insane that Blaine's usually open mind could easily slam shut at the very idea. Still, as he looked back down at his own handwriting and the spell which had overtaken his life, the evidence added up. The biggest clue was that the device his journal was displayed upon surpassed any technology he knew.“I think I see it now,” he said, looking back at Kurt.

Unsure if he truly did, Kurt eyed him warily, “Blaine...” he replied, trying his best to handle the situation with care.

Blaine raised his hand to stop Kurt's attempts to step up and reveal the truth of their situation, wanting to do so on his own. So it might be easier to accept in the end but he doubted that. “Kurt, I do believe the real question I must ask you is not where I am... but when.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I somehow cut out a few lines when Kurt and Blaine wake up. Added them back in, sorry.

Chapter Two

“2013,” Kurt said in reply, watching and waiting for Blaine's reaction.

It came instantly and Blaine's seemingly calm state of mind dropped at the news. The displaced young man staggered backwards to lean against the edge of Kurt's vanity.

“Wait... what?” he stuttered, doing a double take.

“March 3rd, 2013... that's when you are, Blaine,” Kurt said, adding for clarification.

“My nineteenth birthday...”

“Technically your one hundredth and twenty-ninth birthday, to be exact,” Kurt corrected but then he realized this was no laughing matter.

The realization of what that meant hit Blaine like a ton of bricks, his breathing becoming heavy when his whole body started to shake. He had travelled through time and was now one hundred and ten years into the future. Mind reeling, Blaine became grief stricken. Everyone he knew was dead and long in the grave for well over a century. Even when Blaine had been so eager to run away from his life, the idea that he might never go back to it was hard to bear. “No wonder you stated I was dead earlier.”

Kurt hesitated. Yet again there was a fact that needed correcting. “Well... you were never reported as dead, just missing,” he said, hoping the comment wouldn't send Blaine over the edge.

“What do you mean?” he asked, needing more details.

“Back in your time, after you attempted the spell you simply vanished without a trace. Your fate was never discovered and until now, no solid reason was ever given.”

“You mean to tell me that my coming here was my destiny all along?”

“I wouldn't go that far. For all we know it was just a freak accident. I have no idea how or even why it happened, but... here you are, ripped out of time...”

“....into the future, oh my lord!” Blaine muttered in denial, turning red in the face.

“I know, I'm so sorry Blaine, I swear when I was singing your spell I never imagined it would bring you here.”

Whether Kurt was to blame or himself, Blaine would never allow someone to pile so much guilt on themselves, not even for his sake. Seeing the genuine regret and empathy on Kurt's beautiful face made him slightly calmer, but barely. The risk that the spell wouldn't work had always been there. Now he was paying the price: no romantic meeting of star crossed lovers. Only two young men whose entire worlds were turned upside down and had no clue how to cope. What could even be done in this instance?

“Please do not lay the blame on yourself...” he pleaded, letting out a tired sigh.

Kurt knew the feeling, he too felt like sighing over what they should do next. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern.

Blaine shook his head. No, he was far from alright and he couldn't hide his state under a fake smile this time. Disappointment to the point of heartache, grief for everything he had lost, the crushing feeling of failure: none of these thoughts were very uplifting. The only thing he could think of doing now was to try to fully understand his current situation. Just who was Kurt and how did he have a copy of Blaine's personal journal? What were the unknown circumstances that transported Blaine through time and to this exact spot?

“Back to the matter of where I am...” he prompted.

That was something Kurt could do, walking over to his window and opening the curtain to reveal a cloudy evening. “When it comes to location, you didn't go very far... though I doubt you'd recognize any of it now.”

As Blaine looked towards the window he frowned; it was hard to make out any details so he got up to get a closer look. Only when he passed by, Kurt reached out to grab his arm without warning and caused Blaine to flinch in surprise at the move.

“Sorry! I just realized... you might not be ready for what it looks like out there.”

Blaine actually went so far to roll his eyes at Kurt's remark, “I might be a bit outdated but I am not a simpleton.” he scoffed, yanking his arm from Kurt's grasp and stomping up to the window. The illusion of smug superiority was quickly shattered when he looked out the window and gave a loud gasp in response. No, there was nothing that Blaine saw before his unprepared eyes that looked remotely normal, at first glance. Where to begin? The structures that were houses weren't so alarming despite their bearing little resemblance to what he was used to. The early nineteen hundreds weren't the dark ages so Blaine gathered the objects parked in front of various houses were automobiles. But they were still a sight to see and if Blaine were to see them on the street without any warning he would be more surprised.

It was the overall difference and the visual proof that Blaine was indeed in the future which was the biggest shock. “I truly am in the future, aren't I?” he asked in amazement, not bothering to look Kurt's way.

“I'm afraid so-”

“Wait... is this... Lima?” Blaine stuttered, interrupting Kurt's reply.

When Blaine turned to face Kurt he nodded in response, “Yes, how could you tell?”

“The topography of the area, my family’s manor house is... or was right on the border of Lima and Westerville. I spent a great deal of time here and even without anything to use as land marks from this view, I just get the feeling that this was once my home town, silly I know...”

“It's not silly, it's very romantic,” Kurt argued, blushing when he realized what he had just said.

“Ah romance, what good has that ever done for me,” Blaine moaned.

It was clear to Kurt that Blaine was beginning to tire, either from having cast such a powerful spell, the emotional weight on his young shoulders, or both. Again, Kurt knew the feeling. He didn't feel sleepy though, merely worn out, both physically and emotionally. “Maybe you should sit down?” he suggested to his time travelling guest.

“In a moment. I want to fully take this in... so I will not think it is merely a dream. Where I will wake up on the floor of my home, either with my family around me... or someone more far more special.”

The mention of Blaine's mission to find his soulmate caused an immature reaction in Kurt, one he couldn't stop in time. “I'm special. I may not be the person you were hoping to meet, but I am someone who thinks the world of you,” Kurt snapped.Normally Kurt would never be so forward but he was tired and a little hurt by the comment.

“Please forgive me, you are quite right... no matter who I hoped to meet, you are nothing to overlook,” Blaine agreed, coming away from the window and taking a seat on Kurt's bed, looking anywhere but at him.

Oh no, if Blaine continued to talk in such a poetic way there would be no helping it. The romantic circumstances of their meeting would make falling for Blaine so easy. But he wasn't Kurt’s to love. Blaine's true match was waiting for him back in 1903. “I should explain...” he began.

“Please do, that would be most welcome,” Blaine agreed, patting the empty spot on the bed next to him.

The distance between Kurt and that spot was substantial but given Blaine's upbringing (plus their being strangers), it was to be expected. So Kurt made sure not to invade his personal space because making things uncomfortable was the last thing Kurt wanted, and sat down beside him.

Blaine and Kurt exchanged awkward smiles, like two newly betrothed youths who were meeting for the first time. As Kurt sneaked a little glance to admire Blaine's striking features, so they destined to be together, that was no reason to shy away.

Hadn't Kurt simply wanted to converse with Blaine? Well, now he had his chance, but first things first: explanations were due. “You see, the reason I know about you and your... story is because I'm writing an essay about you...”

Blaine laughed at the very idea, finding it amusing. “Really? For what?”

“My magical history class, but I knew about you before that. A lot of people around here do, since it's local history. For this project... I wanted to learn about your personal story and that's how I came to find your journal,” Kurt answered.

There was no need for Kurt to continue and say how that had happened, Blaine already knew the culprit. “I suppose Cooper went and published it?”

“How'd you guess?”

“I know my brother far too well... it is something he would do for sure...” Blaine started but then he went dead quiet, looking like he had just been shot.

Kurt cocked his head to the side at the sight of Blaine, who seemed to be miles away and lost in thought. Before letting himself get worried over his far off look Kurt reached out to touch Blaine's shoulder lightly. The movement didn't catch his attention and Kurt frowned. What if there's some lingering aftershock from the spell? Choosing to act instead of rising to panic, he shook Blaine's shoulder lightly.

Blaine blinked at Kurt, "Yes, sorry! I'm still here!" he blurted.

"Oh good, I was about to get dramatic," Kurt said with a loud sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry to have worried you... it's just the realization finally hit me that if my brother published my journal, so you could read it 110 years later, that means my parents did as well, so they would know what I was hiding. The thought of what their reaction would be, it was so terrifying I went into shock,” Blaine rambled, so fast that he left no room to breathe.

Finally, something Kurt could relate to, as he made quiet soothing noises in attempts to help Blaine cope and relax. “Calm down, Blaine. Take deep breaths. Coming out of the closet -- or even thinking about it -- isn't easy.”

“Coming out of the what? How does a thing like a closet have anything to do with...”

“... you being gay?”

“Believe me, I was far from happy back then,” Blaine corrected.

Kurt shook his head, because of his personal interest in gay history, he knew the word hadn't become a label for homosexuality until the 1920s. “That's what we're called now – well, the most common term anyway.”

Blaine did yet another double take “We're? You mean to say that you are also...”

“...a boy who likes boys? Yes, you see, Blaine, you're not as alone as you thought,” Kurt said, tapping the surface of his Kindle.

Here it was, the first time Blaine would able to say out loud who he truly was. “Gay. I am a gay man... who is attracted to the male gender, who never loved his betrothed, because... she was a girl,” he breathed.

Never before had Kurt seen such a joyous confession of a young man expressing his sexual orientation with words. The happy disbelief, rendering him to tears made Kurt's heart ache and the hold on his emotions came undone. Soon he too was nearly sobbing over the moment and revelled in Blaine's freedom, feeling so grateful to have witnessed the inspiring realization.--- “How does it feel to finally say what has been kept inside for so long?”

Blaine's talents with words were nowhere to be found; he was too overwhelmed with his sudden epiphany. Along with the wondrous feeling of admitting what he was came the bitter remorse over how it was even possible. That it had taken Blaine leaving the life he knew and loosing everyone he had known, forever, to reach this point. He would never get the chance to tell any of them, not Cooper or even his parents, who he was in person. There was no soulmate before him to make all of that remorse fade away. “Words can't express... I am so overcome. I never thought there would be a time when I could speak so freely. That what I am would become so easily defined...” he began, looking over at Kurt and giving him a shy smile. “... or confessed,” he finished.

Oh, how Kurt wished being a gay teen in 2013 was so positive and freeing that bringing Blaine up to date would keep that smile going. But the reality was, no matter how much progress had been made in the last decade, there was still a long way to go. From what Kurt had experienced since his coming out, hardship and struggles still occurred. Yes, his dad accepted him and he had friends who liked him for who he was, but his life still lacked romance. For countless others the risk of becoming shunned, judged or being rejected by their families was still there. Whenever someone was different there were always risks and the need to hide from the world in some way. Now those same ignorant and unchangeable minds people feared no longer merely whispered in the shadows: they were vocal as their targets. “It's still not easy, as you can probably imagine. But some progress has been made. Same sex marriage is actually legal in some states now.”

“Holy crap!” Blaine shouted.

Kurt couldn't help it, when he heard Blaine attempts to swear he laughed. “Did you just swear? I didn't think people did that in your time!” he exclaimed.

The outbreak of laughter made Blaine's recovery over saying such an improper phrase that much easier. He had never sworn before, not even when Cooper had hit him with his tennis racket when he was 11. Of course even the highest of nobility knew about swearwords and that one should never say them in pleasant company. “Of course we did! When you have a good enough reason to.”

“I suppose marriage equally is a big one, but sadly Ohio is not one of those states.”

“I figured as much but it is still incredible all the same. That one could marry another of the same sex and for it to be legal. Nothing, not even any technological advances that have been made could surprise me more than this!”

Blaine wasn't the only one who'd never been around any boys who were both his own age and gay. Sure, technically Blaine was a hundred and eleven years Kurt's senior but his mind and body were still only nineteen. Along with the joy of meeting someone like him at last came the regret over how they were from such different times. They could never be boyfriends, let alone soulmates and Kurt couldn't forget how Blaine didn't belong there with him. “I know, pretty amazing huh?”

“You have no idea. Whatever one could imagine the future may be like... there is no telling,” Blaine stated, not making much sense and the reason why came when he let out a soft yawn.

“Blaine... I am so sorry for what I did...”

“Now stop that, how many times do I need to insist you do not blame yourself for-”

Now it was Kurt's turn to curtly interrupt Blaine's attempts. “Hear me out. I'm not trying to blame myself entirely. But you need to realize, this whole mess is mainly my fault. Think about it, why else would you have been brought here? You were transported, through time, right to where I had been reciting your spell? That seems to be too much of a coincidence to me. The reason you're here is my fault and that makes it my job... no my duty, to get you back. You have a soulmate to find and fall head over heels in love with.”

Kurt did have a point and while Blaine had never completely forgotten his romantic mission it was sidelined for a short while. Now with the reminder Blaine refused to give up on experiencing love. While he felt rather tired Blaine wouldn't allow Kurt to lay the blame on himself and was ready to interject with his own theory.

“Yes that is very true, Kurt, but do not forget how this conundrum we find ourselves in includes time travel. You never would have discovered my spell to cast if it weren't for my own actions. If I had never attempted my spell in the first place, which caused my disappearance, then my story would have never been known to this day. You wouldn't of found my journal to read if I hadn't written it. So the one truly responsible for my fate is no one but myself.”

“Time travel sure is confusing,” Kurt sighed.

But Blaine wasn't done yet, “Furthermore, for all we know if you had not intervened, perhaps I truly would have died,” Blaine interjected.

“Or you could have met your soulmate,” Kurt countered.

“We shall never know what would have happened for me for sure.”

“I guess... truce?”

“Where we both agree that no matter who is more to blame, we both have a duty to see to.”

With the decision made Kurt was back on the task of getting Blaine home. “Now what?”

“If I could take a look my spell you revised?”

At the request Kurt quickly got off the bed to retrieve his notebook, finding it on the floor, and handed it off to Blaine. Kurt watched as Blaine studied the words, no doubt searching for any changes Kurt had made. His intense gaze was so entrancing, Kurt was constantly reminded how attractive Blaine Anderson really was. He looked like he had come from some sort of costume party, still dressed in his purple suit. 'His wedding outfit,' Kurt thought, that realization making him even more determined.

Blaine was too focused on searching for clues in the revised version of his spell to notice the attention Kurt was giving him. The visible proof of how talented a magic user Kurt must be was the real eye opener. “Wow Kurt... your ability with magic is truly amazing. No wonder you were able to bring me here. The additions you have made to my spell… I didn't even notice my mistakes until now...” Blaine mumbled, coming to look up at Kurt. “You truly have a gift.”

Feeling humbled, flattered and flustered to the point of blushing red in the face, Kurt took a seat on the bed because he was feeling weak in the knees. “Thank you Blaine, I'm flattered but I found the majority of it and just mixed it up..."

“What about the musical notes you added... did you sing the spell? Like it was a song?”

Kurt nodded again in confirmation, “I'm not really sure why... when I saw your original sheet music in the spell I just decided to. I wasn't trying to bring you here or anything, I just wanted to honour your memory I guess,” he admitted.

No matter if that kind gesture had triggered an unexpected journey, Blaine felt very touched nonetheless. If only Kurt had been born one-hundred and twenty nine years earlier, then their meeting would have been a dream come true. More proof that life rarely went the way you wanted, if at all. “I did the same thing but not to your extent... still... it is hard to fathom time travel was made possible with this.”

“Maybe if I were to try the spell again it might send you back-” Kurt began, but he never got to finish.

Blaine on instinct reached out to clamp onto Kurt's hand, stopping him from taking the spell in a moment’s panic. “No!” he shouted in protest. “Sorry but... it would be very dangerous if you were to try. The amount of energy needed to generate such a complex spell is substantial. If you attempted it again your life could be put in danger. Death was avoided the first time the spell was cast. If possible, I would like to keep it that way.”

With that wise warning Kurt became fully aware at how worn out he was and how he felt like his batteries were now fully depleted. “You're right, I wasn't thinking,” he said.

“We should try again in the morning, when we are properly rested.”

“Good idea. We can look for answers after we recharge,” Kurt agreed, though he was too tired to fully understand their situation. How in the world was he supposed to go to school tomorrow and act like it was any other day in his boring life? Not to mention how surprised his family would be when they discovered Blaine's presence in the house. Any explanation Kurt could give, if he lied or told the truth, would turn into a total disaster.

Using the darkened sky to determine the hour Blaine gathered it was late into the evening now. “The hour is getting late, we should retire...” Blaine began, as he came to stand up despite his heavy body. “Do you have a guest room I could use for the night?”

“Err...” Kurt muttered sheepishly, “Not really, no. Every room in this house, all three of them, are already being used...”

“Oh, well no matter, I'm not so above things that I cannot sleep on the floor,” Blaine offered.

“No way! No guest of mine, especially one who was brought here against their will, is gonna sleep on my bedroom floor! You're taking my bed!” Kurt insisted firmly.

Whatever proper etiquette in this situation for a gentlemen to follow, Blaine would never allow such a sacrifice to be made at his expense. “I will do no such thing!” he argued.

Both boys were feeling too sleepy to put up a real fight but their matched stubbornness brought them to a stand still.

“It appears we are at an impasse,” Kurt declared.

“Any ideas for a solution?”

“Yes... we could compromise and both share the bed...” Kurt stated, stopping when Blaine was clearly panic stricken at the suggestion.

Blaine was aghast. The idea of anyone -- let alone himself -- sharing a bed was unheard of. Such things did not happen back in his time, or at least not to his family. When they did to others, then scandal erupted and reputations were ruined. He didn't resist the offer because he thought something sensual would happen; he trusted himself, but the idea was still too much for him to accept.

Kurt chose to take pity on the poor soul and assure him it wasn't a big deal. “Blaine... don't overreact... it will be fine. It's a big enough bed for us both and I promise I'll be nothing but a total gentleman. We're both too tired to sleep on the floor and too stubborn to let one of us do that anyway.”

Blaine heard the tired pleading in Kurt's soft voice and he gave in. He was right, no matter what his mind tried to tell him otherwise. “Alright... I will relent...”

Kurt flashed a triumphant smile, hurrying over to his dresser to start the next order of business; choosing proper sleepwear. “I'll lend you something to wear because that suit wouldn't be very comfy to sleep in. No protests now! It's the least I can do...” he muttered as he rooted through his clothes. After pondering what Blaine could wear, Kurt chose to go with his fancy pair of navy silk pyjamas, figuring they would be high quality enough for Blaine to wear.

Blaine took the offered clothes with kind gratitude and he began to scan the room, “You don't appear to have a changing screen in here...” he deduced.

The urge to giggle was too hard to resist and Kurt shook his head with amusement, “Those sort of went out of style a number of decades ago. Here, you can get dressed in the bathroom...” he urged, beckoning Blaine to follow him out the door.

So his first foray into the 21rst century was to enter his first modern bathroom then, hardly exciting but that was life for you he supposed. Some things, like the toilet and taps, were clearly updated since his time but the room still had the same use as washrooms back home had. Kurt left Blaine to change and returned to his room to do the same.

Blaine was by himself for the first time since he had arrived and if he weren't so tired, he might have the energy to take in everything he was facing. Instead Blaine sleepily changed into Kurt's loan of clothing, welcoming the soft touch the fabric brought on his skin. The task done, Blaine stumbled back out into the hall and was about to opened the door but he managed to stop just in time. Was Kurt finished dressing, he wondered? The last thing Blaine wanted was to find he wasn't. _'Manners, Blaine.'_ he chided. Blaine put all his years of etiquette lessons to use, knocked on the door and waited for Kurt's all clear.

The door opened to reveal Kurt standing there, dressed in a pair of plaid pyjama pants and a simple t-shirt. The idea of dressing up for bed seemed a bit much so Kurt hadn't bothered. “Welcome back,” he said playfully in greeting.

By this point Blaine was too tired to give a witty comeback, so he merely gave Kurt a little nod in thanks. It was a good thing that he and Kurt were too tired to do anything but climb onto the bed. It took away the risk of getting nervous or worrisome over their close proximity. No matter what incredible circumstances had brought the two together, they had been strangers only hours ago.

Since Blaine was the one to have travelled through time, he was the first to crash, giving Kurt a moment to study his sleeping face. Before, he too, fell deeply asleep and the slumbering boys allowed their tired bodies to recover.  
________________________________________________________________________

When Blaine awoke the next morning his day did not start off with waking slowly on his own. His eyes snapped open from a beeping noise the young gentleman was not used to hearing. After his vision cleared enough he found himself face to face with Kurt's sleeping figure, pressed up close beside him on the bed. His memory was still hazy, so finding what he thought was a strange boy in his bed gave him quite a shock. Finding an arm draped over his waist was what sent him falling off the bed with a heavy thud.

Kurt stirred from the movement, "Blaine, are you alright, what happened?" he asked as he hung over to bed to see where his bed-mate had gone 

From his landing spot on the floor, Blaine gave Kurt a sheepish grin by now he remembered the night prior. Right, he had ended up in the year 2013, in the bedroom of one Kurt Hummel. “I fell off the bed... I wasn't expecting to find a young man snuggled up next to me!” Blaine explained.

“Was I cuddling up to you? I'm sorry! It wasn't intentional I swear!” Kurt blurted, feeling truly mortified. 'Way to go body, though I can hardly blame myself...' he added in thought. 

“I suppose it was too much for me to take in my post sleep state,” Blaine concluded as he picked himself up.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, despite my feeling very embarrassed-” Blaine began.

“Kurt? You okay? What's all that noise?” A third voice called out from the other side of Kurt's bedroom door, cutting both teens off.

Kurt froze. That was his dad, who had clearly heard the commotion a second ago. Oh no, he hadn't thought this far ahead. He knew Burt wouldn't wait much longer to open the door and he would find a boy dressed in Kurt's own PJs (complete with a KH on the pocket) in his room. Any thought to somehow hide Blaine's presence was out of the question and no spell came to mind either. “Dad! This is uh...” he stuttered.

True to his concerns, the door opened up before Kurt could get another word in and attempt to stall for time.

What Burt Hummel saw inside the room was nothing to smile about. There was a boy in his son's room and it was clear he'd stayed the night. Burt looked from Kurt, to the unknown young man who was frozen still and staring at him like a deer caught in headlights, and back to his son again. “What the hell? Who's he?” he shouted.

Great, what in the world was Kurt supposed to do now? If he told his dad the truth would he even begin to believe him? Or should he lie and say he was someone from their own time and had shared his bed that night? Neither seemed very appealing but one for sure had far more consequences, so he went with the first. “Would you believe... Blaine Anderson?” Kurt asked warily.

Clearly he didn't and judging by his hard gaze, Burt wasn't amused. “You better start explaining things for real!” Burt demanded in warning.  
_____________________________________________________________________________

To his credit, Kurt gave his very best in trying to convince his dad that what he and Blaine were trying to explain was, in fact, true. After going through the events of last night, Kurt was out of breath and waited for Burt's response. Blaine, who was sitting beside Kurt at the kitchen table, situated across from Burt, allowed Kurt to do the talking for now.

If the tables had been turned and it was Blaine to be faced with explaining Kurt's presence to his own parents, there was no telling how that unwanted scenario would unfold. So Blaine sat there awkwardly, trying to think what he could do to help. But he couldn't speak, not when Burt was clearly having some inner struggle to comprehend what both boys had just explained.

“Wait, lemme get this straight... you expect me to believe that Kurt somehow managed to bring Blaine Anderson, the kid who went missing over a hundred years ago, here ... all from you reading a spell in his journal?” Burt asked slowly.

When spoken out-loud Kurt understood why the idea was so hard to accept and he didn't blame his dad's reaction. At least he wasn't calling him an outright liar, so that was something but not much. Before Kurt could attempt a reply, Blaine, ever the young gentleman, beat him to it.

“I know this all seems very unlikely sir... but it is entirely the truth. I only wish there was a way to prove it...”

““When have I ever told a lie this big? If Blaine was just some guy I knew from here... we both know it would be way smarter for me to fess up, than to give some elaborate excuse that would be totally unbelievable!” Kurt added in desperation.

Burt scratched his head; everything in his right mind was telling him the reason was crazy. That there was no freaking way that time travel could be possible. Even if it was, he hardly thought that it would be his son to make it happen for real. “You know... as crazy as it seems, I think I actually believe you two. I didn't raise you to try to pull something like this on me either, Kurt. But time travel? I mean... come on!”

“I'm right with you there dad! I can still hardly believe it but, well... here he is! Blaine Anderson in the flesh!” Kurt said, waving his hands over at Blaine as the physical proof.

“And finding myself just as confused and misplaced as I was yesterday,” Blaine added.

“If what you're telling me is true... which I'm not saying it is, but I'm not calling you liars yet... then now what?” Burt prompted, needing more information stat to make sense anything.

That was where the boys’ answers ran out, “Um... we were planning to deal with that in the morning,” Kurt admitted.

“Well rise and shine, it's another day!” Burt pointed out.

Blaine chose to make the first suggestion, albeit uneasily since he was acting on the fly. “We clearly need more information before we attempt to send me back.”

“Do you really think you can do that, Kurt?” Burt asked his son.

“No clue, but I owe it to Blaine to try. He doesn't belong here.”

Hearing those words, however true, still stung a little. Because a part of him wished he could live in a place were so much was possible. Of course it was equally true that he would miss his family, but hadn't he planned to leave them all behind for love in the first place?

“Who do you even contact with something like this? The CIA? Magic enforcement or the president?” Burt grumbled.

The mention of bringing any authorities in sent Kurt into total panic. “You can't! What if I'm incarcerated and Blaine's... ends up being dissected!” he shouted.

“Stop being so damn dramatic, Kurt,” Burt warned with a firm voice.

“Sorry but... I'm not that far off. If we contacted anyone, think what might happen? I'm sure there are harsh penalties for what we did. It wouldn't even matter if I hadn't brought Blaine to the future on purpose. I'm responsible for Blaine's being here, Dad. I don't wanna hand him off to anyone. How could I know for sure that he would be safe? I bet they'd be too focused on trying to figure out how his coming here happened than getting him back!”

“Are you expecting me to just sit back and not act like having a kid from the 1900s in my house is a big deal?” Burt asked his son.

“I'm asking you to trust me and give Blaine and I a chance to figure things out on our own. The world isn't ready for this... it would blow way out of portion. I can't do that to Blaine, Dad, he's been through enough.”

Burt eyed the pair. Kurt and Blaine didn't need to convince him anymore. Now the problem was trying to determine if he should give into their request to keep tight lipped. “This is pretty heavy stuff, Kurt. You gotta realize what you're putting me through here, too.”

“Oh yeah, but it's still the right thing to do. Can't you just... give us some time?” Kurt pleaded with big woeful eyes.

Blaine, who had been content to remain silent for a while, could do so no longer and he finally piped up to share his opinion. “I am sorry for interrupting both of your daily lives. I never meant for this to happen... I was so focused on my own selfish needs. I never considered any consequences and certainly not one such as this. I also owe it to Kurt and you to find a way to be sent back to my own time. I would not trust my fate to anyone but your son in this instance. If anyone would be able to get me home, it would be him.”

Kurt gasped at how easily he'd gained Blaine's trust. Surely someone so kind deserved his happy ending and Kurt wanted to help him find it.

Trust was something Burt knew a thing or two about and when it came to his son, being honest always went in Kurt's favour. The deciding factor wasn't anything Kurt or Blaine had said, it was his thinking if Kurt were the one to be taken out of his own time. He wasn't familiar enough with Blaine's story to know that the man in question had planned to desert his family for love. Or what had led him to doing so but he was still a parent so he felt sympathetic enough to give in. “Okay... I'll give you two a week to try. If nothing happens by then, we're calling in the big shots,” he explained.

Relief washed through both magical students and they looked like mirrored images of each other.

“You sir, have my profound gratitude,” Blaine breathed.

It was true teens could be polite when they tried but Blaine's level was more proof that he'd lived in a more gentlemanly time. Burt smiled thoughtfully at Blaine, feeling fatherly all of a sudden and he patted his shoulder. “You really are from 1903, aren't you?”

"Yes, although I'm now in the future and very confused," Blaine said.

Seeing as how Kurt now had a deadline to make any headway on sending Blaine back home (or off to find his soulmate) there was no time to lose. Kurt stood up and let his inner planner take over, rubbing his hands together. “Right, no time like the present to begin. We need more information... just like Blaine said. We can spend the day researching-”

“Wait just a second there mister, who said I'd let you miss class?”

Now it was Kurt's turn to be surprised by what his father had just told him, “You can't seriously expect me to go to school today!”

“That's exactly what I'm saying. If you want me to keep quiet, then you've got no choice,” Burt said.

“But what about Blaine? He can't be left on his own!”

That claim was almost offensive for Blaine to hear; true he wasn't a modern day man in his proper environment but he wasn't a clueless child either. “I am well able to look after myself-”

“Oh I'm not saying you aren't, it's just you wouldn't know where to look! Or how!” Kurt shouted.

“You're smart. If you can bring a guy from the past, you'll think of something. You've got finals coming up and Blaine or no Blaine, you have obligations to follow. You can get back to researching after school's over,” Burt explained. It wasn't a request.

After living with his dad for eighteen years Kurt knew when it was unwise to try his luck, so he let out a long breath in defeat. But even then it was impossible not to get a little lippy in protest. “That's it then? No other choice? I'm just supposed to head off to class and act like nothing's happened, possibly abandoning Blaine to deal with finding himself in the future on his own?” he challenged.

Only the ploy didn't end up working. “Pretty much,” Burt confirmed flatly.

______________________________________________________________________________

“Are you really sure this is a good idea?” Blaine asked, his voice full of worry.

It was clear to Kurt that Blaine felt very out of place in a new environment. He had to fix that, and quick. If they had any hope of nonchalantly slipping Blaine into William McKinley unnoticed, he'd need to act like he belonged to be there. “Trust me Blaine, it will be fine and you certainly look the part. The alias we came up with for you is flawless,” he assured.

Blaine fought the urge to challenge Kurt's confidence; he was the one knocked out of time so he could hardly do so anyway. The plan to pass Blaine off as Kurt's pen-pal from overseas who had come to visit his friend for a week seemed plausible enough. But Blaine was unsure if he'd be able to act the part well enough for it to work. “I will give it my best,” he promised.

“Which will be more than enough, come on... my first class is French. Are you familiar with the language?”

“Oui, je suis très familier avec elle,” Blaine sassed back in the said language, sounding quite fluent.

Kurt laughed at Blaine's playful response. It was hard to remain serious when Blaine was such a delight to be around. “Great! Maybe you can help me in the class.”

“Why don't we make that where I am currently living? Where I was born and raised in US, to account for my manner of speaking?” Blaine suggested.

“An excellent idea, but remember to drop the pretty words. Use more contractions okay? You know... you're quite a helpful accomplice to have, Blaine. I only wish our coming together had been under more normal circumstances,” Kurt chimed. When he started to imagine what it would be like if they had met normally, his spirits started to fall. Blaine wasn't a cute boy who'd he'd noticed in class or on the street. There would be no nervous date to experience and enjoy and that that made him a little sad.

Unable to bear Kurt's lovely face becoming so disheartened, Blaine made it his personal mission that during their time together, he would spend it smiling away. Soulmate or not, Kurt was a remarkable young man who Blaine had met in the most unbelievable circumstances, who was a true silver lining in every sense. As much as Blaine longed for love, for the time being he put that dream aside, to focus on his current adventure and where that might lead him to. Hopefully, after having a memorable journey and all for the better, he could tell everything to his true love and look back on his trip into the future as fond memories.  
____________________________________________________________________________

Lunch break brought the chance to comb through the school library where no food was in sight, only stacks of books.

This scene was something Blaine was familiar with, as he had a strong love for books. Of course the current setting was hardly as grand as he was used to, but he found it oddly calming none the less.

“You know... I'm still not really sure what we should be looking for,” Kurt admitted as he scanned through the pages of a book.

“Nor I. I assume no real progress pertaining to time travel has been made since my time?”

“Correct! Even with the scientific side leading... nothing to report, as far as I know. I might be wrong but I swear the reason it worked for us is from using music."

“Which is another dead end, I take it?”

"Right again, but that means we have no leads to go with..."

Blaine furrowed his brows as he tried to think of any new ideas, there had to be something they were overlooking. Coming from a different direction, Blaine's face lit up with a sudden theory to share with his research partner. “How about this? We don't need to focus so much on the time travel aspect, since that was never the intent in the first place. I was trying to travel in space -- or rather bring someone to me -- not in time. I suggest we try to perfect the spell's original function; bringing me to my soulmate’s side.”

“Being sent back to your own time in the process. That's brilliant, Blaine!”

“Shh!” The librarian chided from Kurt's sudden outbreak and he quickly apologized.

Resuming his response (though quieter this time) Kurt ran with the idea. “You're really onto something Blaine, we can go with this. We need to make a counter spell of sorts. I mean it worked the first time. Who's to say it won't for the second...”

“We should wait until we are fully sure we have gone through every possibility. Or else I could end up somewhere off target once more,” Blaine added in warning.

Kurt agreed, nodding in approval. “Good call. This is your life we're talking about. I know you're eager to meet him but I hope you can wait patiently for a bit longer.”

Before Blaine could playfully scoff at Kurt's comment and assure he could, a loud gasp was heard across the library.

“Oh my god... Kurt, the rumours are true! You are hanging around with some cute new guy!” A high pitched voice exclaimed, bringing another loud shush where Rachel narrowly missed being kicked out.

The first thing Kurt did when Rachel suddenly appeared was to roll his eyes, then he noticed she hadn't come alone. Nearly half the New Directions, consisting of Tina, Sam, Finn and Mercedes were trailing behind, making their way over to Kurt and Blaine. Kurt was in for it now; he should have known better. Of course people would notice if he was walking around school with an unknown (and attractive) young boy in tow.

Too late now. This would be the first test to how well their little charade would add up. “Keep up your natural charm Blaine, because we're gonna need it...” Kurt whispered to Blaine as they awaited the ambush coming their way. “Oh, hey guys... did I never mention my pen-pal Blair before?”

Blaine resisted the urge to laugh at the name, since it was so close to his own and could blow their cover. He needed to remain in character, so he smiled politely instead."

He was a little unsure how to act in this situation, the only thing he could think of was to sound less proper than normal (like Kurt had warned earlier). “Hello there,” he greeted in attempt.

“Pen-pal?” Rachel questioned suspiciously.

“Yes, who showed up at my door yesterday with a surprise visit. Seeing as how I'm still a high school student, Blair's joining me for school,” Kurt explained, lying through his teeth but pulling it off rather well.

The seemingly boring answer wasn't good enough for any of Kurt's friends, who kept eyeing him hoping one of the pair would crack. It never came, and instead Blaine found himself being asked question after question about his life and who he was. For the most part Blaine's answers were good enough and Kurt often piped up to give his own share to help. At the end of their little interrogation, his friends were more of less convinced and that was quite the silent victory.

“You coming to Glee club too, Blair?” Sam asked.

Before answering Blaine looked to Kurt for an answer, who shrugged, giving an annoyed look. “It seems I will... but what exactly is a glee club?” he couldn't help but ask.

“Oh right, I bet you don't have those in France... or they're called something else,” Kurt quickly sputtered off to give a believable explanation. “It's a school club were we sing and compete nationwide. We're called the New Directions,” he explained to Blaine.

Blaine's eyes brightened at the idea. He could already tell his education had been very different from Kurt's. Sure there were still social cliques and schools but none like this, and Blaine felt a little envious. He loved music as much as magic and relished in the idea of getting to spend time with people who felt the same. At the thought of magical studies, he had another curious thought. “Are any of you also talented with magic, like I know Kurt is?” he pressed.

Blaine was surprised how casually everyone answered his question and that no one seemed very enthralled about magic. Had the world changed so much that the idea of having magical ability was now so second rate? Blaine's polite smile never wavered (despite his inner surprise) as everyone admitted they had some talent but never thought much about it. Mercedes was the only one taking magic classes aside from Kurt. Blaine still was having a bit of a struggle coming to terms with this when he found himself in the choir room. While he didn't feel like an honoured guest, Blaine was relieved he wasn't alienated by anyone in the room. Kurt kept him close, sitting at his side in the back row of chairs.

“I'm sorry we're stuck here for a bit longer,” Kurt whispered to Blaine, leaning close so there was no risk of being overheard.

“I'm fine...” Blaine assured. “If anything this is a nice break from our searching,” he added. Even when deep down Blaine knew a week might not be enough time, there was no way to know what would happen.

As Mr. Schuester entered the room, he at first didn't even notice the new arrival among the usual group of teens and went right into his lesson of the day. He did a big spiel about song ideas that would ensure their win and Regionals and music in general so it was a typical day.

During this, Blaine understood very little but he kept his normal charming smile in place. Every once in a while Kurt would quietly whisper explanations to him without his needing to ask.

“So, our week of power ballads continues, where I believe Kurt was the next one to show us what he's got... right-” Will said, stopping when his eyes fell on Blaine and didn't recognize the face staring back at him nervously. “Wait... who's the new guy? Has he been here this whole time?”

“He's Kurt's boyfriend,” Santana answered.

“Visiting pen-pal!” Kurt corrected with a hiss. “This is Blair, he's visiting me for the week. I hope his being here isn't a problem because we can go if not...” Kurt offered, hoping they'd be released.

Will simply gave a big inviting grin in reply, making it clear that there would be no such luck. “Oh, it's fine Kurt, and welcome Blair, I hope you find your time here entertaining. It's a good thing it's your turn to perform then, so your friend can see you in action.”

In the excitement of yesterday Kurt had totally forgotten he was supposed to sing his song for the assignment today. Good thing he had it practised down to perfection already. That and how Kurt was always able to belt out a song without a moment’s notice meant he had no trouble in stepping up to sing. Kurt took the cue and patted Blaine on the knee lightly before leaving him to head to the front of the class.

Blaine let him go; the chance to hear Kurt to sing was very appealing to him. 'Good luck,' he mouthed to Kurt with a smile.

Kurt cleared his throat lightly as he started to compose himself. The fact that Blaine would be able to hear him sing made him so willing to go for it. With a nod to the band and Brad the piano player, Kurt closed his eyes and turned on his performer mode. For the length of the song Kurt let himself forget about getting Blaine black home.

The piano started to play and the room fell completely silent as the audience waited with mild curiosity.

Kurt opened his mouth to sing at the right moment, to the sounds of 'In the Still of the Night'. Instantly Kurt's strong voice filled the room, in his lower register but the deeper tone still resonated with impressive skill. Making sure not to look directly at Blaine during his performance, Kurt glanced off into the distance as he sang with true emotion. So what if Kurt had no one to serenade the song to, he didn't need to be in love to sing about it. The longing for such a connection wasn't only something Blaine dreamed of after all.

It hardly mattered that Blaine didn't know the song, or that he hadn't heard anything like it before. What had his attention was the angelic sound of Kurt's voice. How it calmed Blaine and captivated his soul, moving him far more than he would have ever imagined. It spoke to him with his constant longing for love and in turn, made it hard to keep down the emotions welling up inside. When the number was over Blaine on impulse stood up and gave Kurt a heavy round of applause, forgetting his fake persona in the moment. “Bravo Kurt, that was simply stupendous! Remarkable!” he gushed with praise.

Blaine's enthusiasm got a few quizzical looks but Kurt ignored them. The acclaim made him feel like he'd been given a Tony award. “You're too kind,” he replied bashfully, but enjoying himself immensely.

After Kurt had taken his seat once more (trying not to look Blaine's way too often as he did) glee club resumed. The rest of the lesson went on rather normally and the New Directions' guest was enjoying himself. Blaine forgot for a second that he was in the future and thought how no one in the room knew how fortunate they were. Wealth, it seemed, was overrated and you didn't need a lot of money to do what you wanted anymore.

Before Blaine could add anymore thought on the matter glee club was adjourned and Blaine and Kurt's minds went back to the task at hand.

“So Blaine, because we didn't make much headway at school, I thought we'd try our best at the local library next?” Kurt suggested as they made their way through the halls.

“It is worth a shot at least. We don't have much else to go on,” Blaine concluded.

“You know... I wonder if looking into your family’s history after you left would get us anywhere...”

“How so?” Blaine questioned, not understanding what Kurt was getting at.

“I mean, they might have looked into the spell you cast, in case it had actually sent you to your soulmate...” Kurt started to explain, only he stopped when he noticed how Blaine's face fell at the suggestion. “What? Would it be too painful to find out what happened to them after you vanished?”

The hope that Blaine could act like he would be alright was tossed aside. He couldn't even hide his aversion to the idea. Not when Kurt's touching musical ballad had dredged up so much emotion in Blaine, more than he could even register at this point. Back when he had attempted the spell he had purposely kept any thoughts of his family out of his mind. It was the only way he could go through with it, focusing on what he would gain. Blaine had kept a tiny bit of hope that perhaps a day would come where he could see his family and they might understand why he had left. Even if they didn't and shunned him, if he never returned to his time, there would be no sense of closure. So Blaine made a vow right there and then, that if he ever did go back, he would try to reach out to his family. After finding his soulmate Blaine would make sure his parents knew he was happy, safe, and above all, sorry for any grief he had caused. “It will be painful, but I don't really have a choice. There might be something we could use, just as you said. Would there be such records at the library?”

“Most likely. Only one way to find out.”  
__________________________________________________________________________

There happened to be a great deal of information on the Andersons at the library, going way before Blaine's own time. Apparently Blaine's disappearance had made his family famous for a time, eventually that hype died out -- and so did the family's magical ability. Blaine's disappearance meant he never had any children and anyone left who could do magic was lost to the war. Not a single child with the touch was born in any generation since Blaine's birth, not even through a more distant relation. The news was painful for Blaine to hear; he'd always hoped magic would remain in his family. But sometimes things just weren't meant to be and the once-famous family's magical prowess died out.

Kurt looked away from the screen of the libray’s computer (since they had looked through too many books to count already), and gave him a sympathetic look. It was hard to remember what Blaine was going through, when he was normally seemed so cheerful. Here was a window into his wounded soul, as a new level of grief struck at him. _'No matter how much I wish he could, Blaine doesn't belong here,'_ Kurt reminded himself. “Hey... it wasn't your job to keep the line going. No matter what you were to be taught to believe. Nobody deserves that sort of pressure...” he said soothingly.

“Yes, I know... still... it is hard to accept,” Blaine said softly. Because basically it was a responsibility every young heir was expected to bear and most did their duty.

Blaine knew there were always exceptions to every rule and he had tried to convince himself he was fine to become one.

“Magic or not, your family had a good life. Look at your brother. Sure, he was never a mage. But he lived to the ripe old age of seventy and had six children,” Kurt pointed out.

“And he survived the war...” Blaine added, another shocking piece of history to discover. If Blaine had remained in his own time would he have been so lucky? What if he went back and found his soulmate, only to lose him in eleven years when they were called to arms? Maybe now that he knew what to expect they could avoid being drafted, but that seemed so cowardly. “Are any of my relatives still living here in Ohio? What about the manor?” he asked, wishing to change the subject.

To give Blaine his answers Kurt went back to researching and looked through a number of links before finding one that was informative enough. “Yes, to the first question... which I gathered, since the Andersons might not be as well-known as they once were. But the line hasn't run out. As for the manor... yep, still there. Oh, is that where it is? I've been by that place before... I hate to tell you, Blaine, but it’s gotten kind of shabby over the years.”

“That's not all that surprising, but still not very easy to hear. What I find more odd is that you haven't visited it properly before,” Blaine admitted.

“Ah well... before yesterday I had more of a lingering curiosity where I didn't find the need to. Up until you arrived, I was focusing more on your personal story than what had become of your family’s home.”

The word 'personal' made Blaine remember that Kurt knew so much about him from reading his private journal. All the things written in his memoirs were things he never planned to share and so nothing was held back. There was so much personal insight, emotional longing and of course, a great deal of embarrassing subject matter. The times Blaine had poured his heart out onto the pages of his entries were numerous. Kurt of course wasn't the only one to read his words, but he was the one Blaine was now hanging around with. But there was no time for awkward pauses and Blaine urged them to go back to searching.

When they had enough resources to work with Kurt and Blaine headed back to the home front. Both boys quickly agreed they should give the spell a second attempt right away, before it was too late. If all they met was failure then hopefully they'd at least learn from their mistakes.

Kurt suggested they conduct their experiment in the living room, giving them more space to work with. This time there was a lot more riding on the task than giving a memorial service to a long lost teen. He agreed with Blaine's idea for him to try the song on his own, since he'd brought Blaine here in the first place. Which meant his keyboard was out and again and he was trying to get into the right frame of mind.

“Just try Kurt, do not fret over if it will work or not,” Blaine coaxed, his voice gentle.

“You being so kind only makes me that much more determined,” Kurt replied.

“We've reworked the formula as well as possible, we need to attempt it now.”

“I know... but it's hard to accept that if it works, then this will be goodbye for us.”

He'd done it again. Somehow Blaine kept focusing only on his own well-being and didn't think about what would happen to those around him when he left. All it took was one look at Kurt and his mouth felt dry and his heart started to ache with remorse. “Of course... how could I have not realized that? We barely know one another. But you need to know Kurt, I am glad we got to meet, for however short our time together was. And I will miss you,” he breathed.

Breaking down right when he was supposed to be casting a nearly impossible spell was probably a bad idea and Kurt fought to keep control. It was better this way. With no chance for a long goodbye, Blaine would leave just as he arrived.

“Thank you Blaine, I feel the same way... but I'd better get to it. I'm not worried this will faze my performance. If anything the emotion could help,” he assured.

Blaine nodded, swallowing the rising catch in his throat, trying not to distract Kurt in getting too worked up.

“Um, actually Blaine, if it's alright, I think I should be touching you when I try the spell. I think the physical contact will help. As well as giving me access to your own magical gift to help fuel the spell,” Kurt requested.

“Say the word and I'll transfer all the power I can to you,” Blaine offered without any hesitance.

When Kurt gingerly held out his hand for Blaine to grasp, he took it, the pair lacing their fingers together. It was such an innocent gesture but it felt oddly intimate and Kurt swore he felt a strange pull from the contact. Choosing to see that as a good sign, Kurt turned his attention to the keyboard, which he now would have to play one handed. “Wait... how am I supposed to play like this?” he mumbled.

“I can help there as well, like this..." Blaine said as he learned in close next to Kurt and touched the right keys with his free left hand. "Here, you give it a try too," he urged.

After a few bars Kurt joined in and it wasn't long before they got the hang of thing to be able to continue. All that left was for Kurt to sing the hybrid spell he and Blaine had spent the evening working on. As soon as Kurt opened his mouth he could feel the power building in him and it was far more noticeable than before. Maybe that was because Kurt had not only been expecting that but hoping for it. This time he allowed himself to look at Blaine now and then, using that to his benefit.

Blaine's hair began to stand up on end as he somehow managed to keep playing. The tingling sensation continued and he closed his eyes in anticipation. Only there was no burst of light, no implosion of power that followed. When the room fell silent after the spell was finished: nothing. Blaine was still there, with no soulmate before him.

Spirits fallen, Kurt found himself crying over the failure, as if the spell had left him emotionally unhinged and unable to cope. “It didn't work...” he sobbed with remorse.

His instant need to comfort others was the only reason Blaine was able to hold himself together but he too was weakened. Blaine couldn't stop himself from sweeping Kurt up into his arms so the teens could cry out their disappointment in each others’ warm embrace. Kurt clung to Blaine tightly as they hugged, Blaine burrowing his cheek into the dip in between Kurt's shoulder and neck. “We tried,” he soothed.

“Why didn't it work? I could feel the power! What went wrong?”

What indeed? Blaine didn't have a single answer that sounded plausible enough to give to Kurt in reply. “I do not know...” he simply replied.

Eventually they both recovered enough to notice they were still hugging and pulled back bashfully, sharing a look that showed their surprise. Blaine's lips were so close in that instant and Kurt almost gave into the desire to feel them with his own. While Blaine was equally captivated by how close they were, he had never been so near a boy like this before. All it would take is one quick lapse in judgement and that would be it, their lips would touch. Only the kiss never happened, because neither could dare to make the first move; their mouths were very close but still not close enough.

What stopped the boys from sharing their first kiss, swept up in the moment and not thinking, wasn't due to common sense. It was the sound of the door opening that snapped them out of their trance.

Burt Hummel stepped into the living room to find Blaine and Kurt sitting a sort distance apart, red eyed and looking very suspicious. Like something had just gone down, what that might be was making Burt very antsy. “What, do I need to stay home all the time just to make sure you two don't get up to no good?” he accused.

Blaine was unable to face Kurt's father, nor his nearly rash actions a moment ago, and made a hasty retreat, claiming he needed to use the washroom as he raced off and up the stairs with another word.

“What's with him?” Burt asked with concern.

“We just tried the spell again... and it didn't work,” Kurt explained with a sigh.

“Sorry to hear that... but you had to know it could, what's really going on here?”

“What do you mean by that? Nothing’s going on. At least nothing but me trying to get Blaine home. There's nothing between us dad, the whole reason we're trying to get Blaine home is so he can find his soulmate,” Kurt explained.

Even when he had heard that fact before, Burt still found it hard to believe. “Keep at it, son, I have faith in you...”

“Glad someone does.”

“So does Blaine, can't you tell?”

 _'I know, that's the whole problem,'_ Kurt thought, not willing to admit that out out loud or to anyone. That the reason the spell hadn't worked was possibly because Kurt's heart hadn't been in it. He wanted Blaine to stay. What if he wouldn't be able to put his own selfish wants aside and couldn't get the spell to work? Would Blaine forever be doomed to be stranded in the future, lost and without his one true love? Wanting to find some sort of escape, however small, from that burning question, Kurt took his leave before bothering to give his dad any answer, which was a bad call to make.

“Hold up, we're not done yet!” Burt protested.

Kurt stopped a few feet away, looking like a tired child who wasn't happy over not getting his way. “Can it wait dad? I'm not really in the mood. I'm tired from trying the spell....”

Burt rejected the need to argue with Kurt when he heard his son's tone, which wasn't due to anger he realized, but regret. He knew Kurt well enough by now to know when it was best to leave him alone, but there one last thing he needed to make clear. “One of you two is sleeping on the couch tonight, you hear me!” he called out.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kurt's voice grumbled back.

 

Burt rolled his eyes. Kurt was in a cranky mood and he only hoped Blaine might be able to perk him back up. But thinking about that made him wary once more; he really needed to give the boys more credit than that. It wasn't like they had planned for this to happen. How could anyone? As Burt started to clean up after the remnants of their spell attempts, he found Kurt's Kindle which was still book-marked on Blaine's journal. Maybe he needed as much personal insight as his son had, but reading it when the one who had written down his personal thoughts was staying at their house seemed out of line. So Burt shut it off instead and sat down in his chair with a thud. A short while later he heard muffled laughter trailing from upstairs. Good, he was glad, but he didn't want there to be any need to check up on them. “Geez, give me normal dad problems any day,” he groaned.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Another morning meant it was back to the drawing board, and along with a new day brought the need to look for other directions to go when it came to making the spell work. The restless sleep both Kurt and Blaine had gotten that night hadn't helped much but they were stubborn as ever. So when Blaine's second day at McKinley was finally over (they'd skipped glee club this time) it was way past the time to act. Fortunately during lunch they had found a possible lead to follow, which they were keen to set in motion.

“So any idea what we should do when we arrive at... well... what my old home has become?” Blaine asked in the passenger seat of Kurt's car.

Focused on driving them there, Kurt didn't look at Blaine as he answered. “I first thought we could join in on one of the tours. But that risks people noticing just how much you look like the famous Blaine Anderson. Which we sure don't need...”

“Don't tell me you are suggesting we should break in!”

“Technically we wouldn't be doing that. I mean, it's still your home... think the protective spells would still recognize you?”

“Well... if not I should be able to bypass them still... not that I condone the idea!” Blaine admitted.

“Got a better alternative?”

“No... and if I haven't found one by the time our ride is over we shall go with yours,” Blaine offered with a sigh.

A red light gave Kurt a chance to sneak a peek over at Blaine and he grinned affectionately from how he looked so deep in thought. He really needed to stop being so cute or Kurt would never get used to the idea that if they succeeded he'd be gone for good. If Kurt started thinking about that again, he was unsure if Blaine could even uplift him from the resulting funk this time. Maybe fate would be kind to Kurt and his noble sacrifice of letting Blaine go would bring his own soulmate to him. Kurt turned his attention back to their current mission, which was somehow to enter the Anderson manor and search for clues for what went wrong with the spell. There had to be something in there that could help; if not, there really wasn't anything to go on. Over the years the Anderson manor had barely stayed in place, its fate rocky over the last few generations. With further investigation Kurt learned that the current heir was only twenty-six and turned to tourism to keep afloat. This gave them a possible way to sneak within, as long as they could keep anyone from noticing Blaine's resemblance to, well, himself, they might get somewhere.

The silent lull wasn't so alarming but Kurt was still slightly concerned because he thought Blaine would have recognized their surroundings by now. Was Blaine really just focused on coming up with a plan or was he intentionally avoiding looking out the window? Time travel was tricky; it had technically been over a hundred years since Blaine had disappeared from the Anderson manor. Technically it had only been three days for him and that could be worrisome. Kurt didn't want to bring him down if that wasn't the case.

“Almost there. Any bright ideas?” Kurt teased playfully.

“None whatsoever. Well, nothing that is a good alternative anyway. I figure we can get inside by acting like we're going on tour. Then hopefully I will be able to slip through the guard spells and gain us access to the library,” Blaine explained.

“Sounds good to me. Here's hoping we don't get caught,” Kurt agreed.

Now that their plans were finalized Blaine allowed himself to find out what the area around his home looked like now. Blaine looked out from the passenger window and was hit with the harsh reality that over a century had passed since he lived there. Again, like with Lima, overall the landscape was recognizable but at the same time, vastly different.

The span of empty fields wasn't so endlessly vast; industry was now creeping up on the borderlines. The Anderson manor looked as out of place in this new age as Blaine himself felt and it left him feeling oddly humbled. Blaine refused to keep his emotions bottled up anymore, especially when the boy beside him was someone he'd come to trust on a personal level. “You know, there are times when you can tell yourself something over and over, but it will take seeing it with your own eyes to fully believe... and accept.”

Now that Blaine had breached the subject himself, Kurt thought it was safe enough to add his own concerns. “So... does anything look familiar to you? Despite the span of many years?”

Blaine nodded, never taking his eyes off the car window and away from the view. “Yes, amazingly... only... the estate looks more like an eyesore now. Everything around here has changed and adapted, while here... it's like everything's in a time bubble,” he said softly.

Kurt couldn't take it anymore. Before they set their plan in motion he needed to check if Blaine was stable enough to go through with it. He normally would have asked Blaine directly at this point but since their near kiss yesterday things had changed. It wasn't to the point where his dad noticed but the difference was still there all the same. Right now both boys were too focused on their mission to grow distant from one another. But in other instances, like during their drive home last night and the following morning, they felt it. At first neither had commented on it since a little space might be a good idea, only now it wasn't anymore.

“Is something wrong?” Blaine asked when Kurt pulled over at the side of the road unexpectedly.

“You tell me, Blaine. There are things we need to address here, even when I know this will be hard for you. I don't wanna push you but... are you able to do this?” Kurt asked awkwardly, unsure how to word his concern properly.

Blaine knew Kurt wasn't acting on a selfish whim; in fact he was touched by the amount of compassion his friend was showing. He might not know it but Kurt's presence was very calming and already helping Blaine manage his stress levels. Blaine still felt an underlining pain from having to step up to his home and see the differences with his own eyes. “I have no choice... or none I wish to make. I can do this, because I have you here with me,” he assured.

Kurt had never heard anything so romantic said to him before and he wished there was no bitter harsh reality to follow and ruin the tender moment. No matter how long he stayed they would never remain together long enough in Kurt's personal opinion.

“You're soulmate's sure a lucky guy," Kurt admitted in a moment’s weakness.

How could Blaine keep almost forgetting that his goal was to return to the past to find his one true love? He nodded at Kurt, allowing him to go back to driving and soon they reached the parking area. Once parked Blaine took a deep breath, bringing forth any strength remaining to help with what lay ahead. When the time to step out of the door came Blaine didn't move on his own instead he remained inside. He was stalling, Blaine knew that and yet it was still hard for him to stop pretending he was trying to focus on the plan.

Kurt was the one to end up opening the passenger door and looked inside at Blaine, flashing him an encouraging smile. “Come on Blaine, it's now or never," he coaxed gently.

How was it that in such a short amount of time Kurt knew exactly when Blaine needed a gentle push to keep going? The act of kindness was far from over and Kurt slowly grasped Blaine's hand, pulling him out from his seat. Kurt was nervous and Blaine knew the feeling but neither boy shied away from the small but intimate gesture.

So they merely walked together, slow and silent as they swung their joined hands between each other to keep the atmosphere light. Blaine and Kurt probably looked like two happy boyfriends on a date trying to find a little local history. Considering they were trying to blend in and not look suspicious; that was a good thing.

Already Blaine noticed the wear and tear of the main building. It had never looked so worse for wear before. Chipped paint, little patches of rotting wooden beams -- the damage was clearly there but easily to overlook. But when the protection and preserving spells that normally would have kept the structure in pristine condition were obviously not doing their job, it was that more substantial. Kurt's idea to use humour as a means to cope was put to the test and Blaine chuckled lightly. “Ah, so this is what shabby means,” Blaine concluded cheekily.

Still holding onto Blaine's hand, Kurt gave an encouraging little squeeze. “Really, it's amazing it’s here at all, Blaine! I mean, this is Ohio, not England. If you were to continue touring around here... you wouldn't see any other estates like this still standing. Of course there were never many to begin with and most were either torn down or converted into something else, like the courthouse for instance,” Kurt rambled.

Blaine took the information to heart, letting that give him some condolence for what he was now seeing before him. “Yes... this place survived two world wars and the family losing its magic ability. I can see some of the preservation spells have already started to fade.”

“Do they normally last this long?”

“Yes, only to keep the magic strong and fully functional it is needed for a direct member of the family bloodline to renew the spells between generations. The first foundation spells were cast years ago, back when the manor was built. Old magic such as that is the strongest yet... but now... its limits are starting to show. I believe I will get a better sense of what is still intact when we take a closer look,” Blaine explained.

“And I thought the spells I cast to make our fruit at home last longer were impressive,” Kurt joked with a cute smirk.

Blaine was glad to laugh again and as if he was offering Kurt an award of sorts, he slipped his arm into Kurt's during the last leg of their journey.

If the strolling twosome were walking so closely together back in 1903 the display would be considered simply scandalous. The pleasant stroll was sadly over far too quickly and Kurt remained still as Blaine let go so he could have a proper look.

Since it was a Wednesday afternoon there wasn't much excitement to be found at the manor, or anyone around to notice their arrival. This was good because Blaine needed to get a closer look than normally allowed to gauge how strong the protections spells were."Ah, we are in luck," Blaine said. "The protection spells are wavering enough, so getting you past will not take much.”

Again, Kurt resisted the urge to ask if Blaine really was okay or just doing a good job of masking any true feelings. Blaine had to feel some type of emotion in returning home and to see the physical proof of how much time had passed. But like before, Kurt refused to be the one to rub salt on Blaine's emotional wounds. “Great... I'd ask you for a guided tour, but… priorities,” he said.

“It is better if I focus on finding clues for my return spell. If I were to linger too much and make it possible to recall memories... I might reach a breaking point,” Blaine admitted softly.

“So it is affecting you, being here.”

“Of course it is. I am human; this was my home as of three days ago to me, albeit one I was ready to leave. Only now, seeing it like this, in near shambles isn't easy to accept. But most of all...” Blaine started to explain, pausing for a moment. He stepped up to the side of the building and waved his hand a short distance away. The protection spell (which would keep any possible vandals out) would normally cause Blaine's hand to meet resistance and bounce off. But it didn't; instead his arm slipped right through to touch the stone surface. “The fact that my family never blocked me out means they always hoped I would return.”

“Well... now you have... and I'm going to make sure you will again, back in 1903,” Kurt replied.

Perhaps his coming here hadn't been for nought. Meeting Kurt was making Blaine far more comfortable in his own skin, relaxing him to the point where being sent into the future wasn't as earth shaking as it could have been. Blaine was adapting rather well to his new-found situation and that was all due to his fashionable guide. Kurt might not be his soulmate but he wasn't just an acquaintance either; he was already a good friend.

“It seems there are no tours taking place today, which is really for the better. Here, there is a back door that is our best means of entering...” Blaine urged, taking hold of Kurt's hand and leading him off.

“But that means if we get caught we won't have the excuse of being on a tour.”

“Our getting through the protection spells will make that impossible anyway.”

Kurt let out a nervous laugh. "Point taken, okay so, um... let's hope we don't get caught then.”

“Fear not, I'll keep you safe Kurt, this is my home after all. I spent many a year finding every possible hiding spot. I have no idea what the current owner of the estate is like...”

“As I said before, he's only 26 and is trying to keep the place still open and running. I wasn't able to dig too much on him. His name is Avery though...” Kurt offered.

“It's a family name. My mother kept dropping hints that Grace and I...” Blaine began, pausing to say her name for the first time since he had planned to abandon her for his own quest for love. “... for us to name our first son that,” Blaine quickly said.

Once again Kurt's curiosity got the better of him. “I wonder what happened to her...”

“I have been too fearful to find out myself, but I hope she found happiness,” Blaine admitted, not wishing to elaborate.

Blaine quickly located the correct door and Kurt moved to stand a safe distance away so he wouldn't trigger any possible alarms. Once again Blaine slipped right through the protection spells and beamed back to Kurt with a cheeky little grin. Kurt flashed him a look that basically meant 'yes very impressive but get to it' and waited for him to take the hint. It came instantly and Blaine nodded, turning his back to Kurt as he closed his eyes.

Kurt felt the prickling feeling of magic building and the whisper of Blaine uttering a spell filled Kurt's ears. What followed was a quick flash of light and before Kurt had time to react, Blaine's hand gently grasped his arm and pulled him through to stand beside him. Not expecting the sudden move, Kurt nearly fell over, but Blaine quickly grabbed him, pressing them up against each other.

“Thanks,” Kurt muttered as he tried to regain his composure.

So far their attempts to slip under the radar were working and they were granted access inside when Blaine used a spell to unlock a certain door. The entrance ended up leading to the servant's quarters downstairs, like a scene right out of a period drama (though some modern updates had been made).

Kurt's eyes whirled around the room in wonder. This was Blaine's home. It seemed so unreal to him. “Nice digs you got here...” Kurt said, giving an impressed whistle.

Not understanding the modern saying, Kurt gave Blaine a puzzled look. “Excuse me?” he whispered.

“This place is impressive,” Kurt offered.

“Ah, well that was never my doing, back then or now, but thank you all the same.”

The dynamic duo silently crept along down the hall because they didn't want to alert anyone inside to their intruding presence.

Since Blaine knew his way around the place Kurt was fine to follow close behind, trying not to get too caught up in the gorgeous display. That plan was going well until on their way to the library, Blaine stopped on his heels.

“What is it? Did you spot someone?” Kurt hissed in alarm.

Blaine didn't look Kurt's way but he shook his head, so Kurt craned his head upwards to Blaine's line of vision to find the reason for his sudden stop on his own. Hung up on the wall was a photo of Blaine, one Kurt had seen before in the copy of Blaine's journal he had downloaded onto his Kindle. Now seeing the original, in its large vintage glory, took Kurt's breath away. But it wasn't the photo that had Blaine so entranced, it was the plaque written underneath.

_In loving memory of Blaine Devon Anderson, who was lost to us and will be missed but never forgotten._

Touched beyond belief and to the point of tears, Blaine was about to collapse on the floor but Kurt managed to catch him in time. Clinging onto Kurt's strong arms, Blaine allowed himself a moment to experience the bittersweet feeling of acceptance. He could hardly believe that his family not only still cared about him, but they'd missed and his sexual orientation wasn't a reason to erase him from history. He was remembered even now.

“Blaine... I hate to try to push you here, but we really can't afford to linger...” Kurt warned, hating that he had to go there.

It was just what Blaine needed to recover and he took a deep breath, shuddering as he stood back up and patted Kurt on the shoulder. But that wasn't enough. He quickly hugged Kurt tightly before letting go and saw Kurt's giddy smile from the surprising contact. “Right, sorry... back to the plan,” Blaine stuttered.

Oh how Kurt wished that gesture meant something, but he knew that Blaine was too emotionally vulnerable right now, so anything he said or did would be taking advantage. Besides, this was hardly the time or the place. “Don't ever feel sorry for showing how you really feel Blaine, but this isn't a good place to-”

“I know, I know... let's press on. We’re nearly there,” Blaine urged, pulling Kurt gently by the arm to pick up the pace.

The William McKinley High library was put to shame as soon as the pair stepped into the Anderson's private book collection. Even Blaine, who had seen the likes before, was baffled by how many more books now were inside the room. The space had to have been expanded at some point over the last 110 years. That meant there was even more information to root through and though the task seemed endless, they couldn't stay in there forever or their presence would eventually be discovered.

“Wow... this place is incredible!” Kurt exclaimed.

“Shh,” Blaine hissed.

“Sorry... so now what? Where do we begin?”

“Fortunately it seems things are as well organized as always. Our best chance in finding anything is to look up the personal archives. My family kept records of every detail about many of its members. There must be something during my disappearance that would be useful for perfecting our spell,”Blaine concluded as he headed over to the correct spot.

Kurt, who currently felt like he was Belle walking into the Beast's castle (though this library wasn't on the same scale) tore his eyes away to smirk at Blaine. No matter how serious their current situation was, it was challenging not to get a little playful. “Our spell?” he teased.

Because Blaine wasn't used to flirting (or knowing when it could even be seen as such) his response was very genuine. He couldn't resist cheerily grinning back at Kurt, causing his whole face to light up.

“Well that is what it has become: a joint operation. We make a good team, you and I,” Blaine flirted back, again unknowingly.

Whether intentional or not Kurt's heart still raced at the saucy tone Blaine dished back, _'Oh boy, this is dangerous... bad time to give flirting a try,'_ Kurt chided. “Then let's put our showmanship to good use and find some answers,” he urged cutely.

“I'm right on it!” Blaine whispered as he pulled out the first book.

There was a lot of useless drivel to skim through and there wasn't much left in the way of new material. The two were spread out in the room, with Kurt leaning over a large desk, busily scanning through one book after another, while Blaine was sitting on the floor a short distance away on the other side of the same desk.

So focused on the task at hand were they, that Kurt and Blaine foolishly hadn't assigned anyone to guard the door. The idea to put up some early warning spells to alert anyone heading their way wasn't considered either.

The pairs worst nightmare ended up walking right into the room whistling cheerily away as he went. The newcomers once carefree expression hardened at the sight of a single teenage boy who was quietly reading, surrounded by endless piles of books. His smile grew mischievous as he silently studied the figure a bit and quickly gave notice to his countless attractive qualities. He didn't relax just because the intruder was pretty though; he wasn't too much of a threat. Besides, if things got out of hand all it would take was a push of a button to call in reinforcements. The stranger’s good looks just made him more than willing to deal with the situation on his own. “How'd you get in here?” he asked curiously, without a hint of alarm in his voice.

The same couldn't be said for Kurt, or Blaine, who both started to panic. Blaine was about to move until he caught Kurt's intense glare and he remained hidden for now.

If they could somehow avoid Blaine being noticed, perhaps they could escape imprisonment. Becoming startled, Kurt was still able to notice the guy (who was ridiculously handsome) looked far more interested than concerned. “Uh... with a little knack, intuition and know how?” Kurt offered, using his sharp wit.

The attempt at humour wasn't met with the attractive stranger calling 911; instead he broke out into a fit of laughter. Now this was a young man who knew how to flirt. “Oh aren't you a saucy delight! You know, I find myself quite lucky that when someone manages to break in, they end up being so striking,” he declared charmingly.

The comment was so direct and obvious that there was no way for Kurt to mistake was he was getting at. Blaine on the other hand wasn’t cluing in and it was hard for him to remain seated. He felt oddly irritated by the man's overly familiar tone.

“Are you seriously trying to flirt with me? When I did break in here...” Kurt said, going with the flow and the flirtatious banter.

“... to read a book by the likes of it. I think I can handle one hot guy; in fact it's one of my favourite pastimes,” he threw back smoothly.

This certainly wasn't what Kurt had expected to face when the chance of getting caught came to mind. Not that he was complaining, since he could handle a smooth-talking heartthrob way better than a bunch of cops. He sure was easy on the eyes: tall and lanky, with wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and then Kurt realized he looked similar to Blaine. “Wait... are you Avery Anderson? The current lord of this very manor house?” he asked.

“Guilty as charged. You're in my very home... not that I'm here much. This place is kind of stuffy, don't you think? You should see my apartment downtown sometime, now that's cutting edge,” Avery said.

“Won't I be too busy living my days out in prison?” Kurt questioned warily, still finding it hard to believe this wasn’t some sort of trick.

“I don't see why it needs to go that far. If anything... I'm quite curious to hear how you got past all the protection spells. I mean, my mom warned me that they'd start to weaken but still, no one else has been able to slip in.”

That was the last straw. Blaine couldn't take it anymore and he suddenly stood up in a huff and came to stand in front of Kurt. He had planned on giving this guy a firm talking to, distant relative or not. But when he cast his eyes upon the culprit any such notion was thrown away because the face he saw, while very dashing, was one he knew. “Cooper?”

“Wow, there's two of you! I should have known, the good ones always come in pairs... wait... holy fuck! You look exactly like Blaine!” Avery shouted with matched amazement.

Any hope that Cooper had somehow followed his younger brother to the future to bring him back home was debunked when the nearly identical young man swore. Of course deep down Blaine knew he wasn't his brother. The resemblance was uncanny but there was still enough difference to tell the two apart, like different eye colour. Who in the world was this fellow, and what gave him the right to say something so vile with such ease? There he was, grinning away and while Blaine knew people swore a lot more now it was the principle of things. Avery was a lord, the current heir to the Anderson line, so he had an image to uphold. Normally Blaine would never be so stiff but if he added in the fact that Avery had just been shamelessly courting Kurt then his annoyance was believable. If Avery thought he was getting his way like he probably did most of the time, then he was in for a big surprise. For once his good genetics would do nothing to help him, Blaine was immune because his resemblance to Cooper.

Avery didn't notice the slight stink-eye Blaine gave him, being far too focused on getting a closer look at. Without warning he advanced on Blaine, only to have the young look-alike (or so he thought) back away like he was an actual danger to his life. The young lord rolled his eyes, not knowing what the bigger picture was. “Whoa, calm down buddy. I swear I won't call the cops. I just wanna get a good look at you...” he assured, rushing up close so they now were eye to eye. “Wow... and people say I have the biggest family resemblance!” he shouted in amazement.

During the awkward family introduction Kurt was keeping rather quiet but that was only because he hardly knew what to say. When the time to start giving answers happened, should he and Blaine keep coming up with lie after lie? Or like with his dad, maybe it was better to cut to the chase and give Avery honest facts. Blaine was the best proof they had and he was also the answer to the question of how they'd gotten in.

“Well fuck me... it looks like there was some infidelity in the family, cause there is no way we're not directly related. I've met every single first relation of mine, so you can't be one of those either. Who had the affair and how far back I wonder... finally some scandals to discover! Aside from my great uncle vanishing out of the blue, nothing much has gone on in the past century! Are you gay too? Is the gorgeous guy with the blue eyes your boyfriend? You know... if you wanted to meet me you could have called, or left a message at the front desk!” Avery exclaimed, proving he had inherited more than Cooper's good looks.

Blaine was bombarded with question after question, none of which he had any time to answer and each one was more offensive than the last. He was reaching his breaking point; where all the stress of his ordeal was coming to boil. At this rate Blaine was about to release the monster within, whose eyes were bright green with jealousy. As he studied Avery's familiar face he didn't know how to deal with him; Blaine was at a loss.

Kurt kept silent at first, still having no better idea of what to say or do now. “Um actually...” he began awkwardly, knowing he had to try.

But neither boy got the chance to get a word in edgewise (not that Blaine was even trying to) because Avery wasn't finished yet. His cheery face suddenly turned ominous but still held his usual relaxed mannerism and he stepped back from Blaine.

“Hold on... something’s not adding up here. Even if we're related... that doesn't explain how you got past the spells. You'd still need to be a recognizable member of the family to, and then there's him!” Avery said, pointing to Kurt. It seemed the young man had a sharp mind in addition to his good looks and he came up with the answer on his own. “Wait... do either of you have the touch?” he demanded.

When Blaine didn't make any effort to answer, Kurt stepped up. “We both do actually, but our getting in was his doing,” he explained.

“Nice try gorgeous... no matter how much this guy looks like Blaine, he was gay... and disappeared before he got hitched. The magical line in my family died out with him... so this guy can't use-”

The sentence was never finished, not when Blaine stepped up and collected a ball of white light in his hand. The spell was one of the first and most basic he'd learned from his private tutor back when he was a child. Then, if that wasn't enough already, he threw the ball up into the air and when it came back down, clapped his hands together, capturing it. When he opened his hands, a butterfly made of the same white light fluttered off until it faded to nothing. “-magic?” Blaine finished, his voice full of sass.

“Blaine... what are you?” Kurt muttered, confused by his sudden cockiness.

Avery laughed at the mention of the name. “So not only do you look like him, you have the same name, are able to get pass the barrier spells and you can use magic...” he began to list, stopping when he added them all together. “No fucking way! I might be that pretty but I'm not that dumb!”

“Oh come on... in this day and age, with all the technological and magical advances... stranger things are bound to have happened than this,” Kurt countered flirtatiously.

“So you are saying this is the Blaine then? My great, great, great, great uncle who vanished without a trace? Just because I haven't got a hint of magical talent doesn't mean I'm some clueless airhead either. So you're gonna have to try better than that, bright-eyes,” Avery warned.

“Fine, you want the whole story... then Blaine and I will gladly tell it to you,” Kurt offered.

Avery eyed Kurt, smirking at him with delight, but when he gazed over at Blaine to see his deadpan face he sighed. “What about you, Mr. Blaine-look-alike... you got any say in this?”

Blaine finally had recovered enough from experiencing possible jealousy to accept this was a new age where nothing he knew was the same. It wasn't fair to Avery (even when his cocky attitude was jarring) to judge him so quickly. If Blaine were in his shoes, he most likely would have called for security the second he stepped into the room. Because neither he nor Kurt were thrown in chains, Avery had some good in him and it was time to reward that with the truth. “I believe apologies are due... I was caught off guard by how much you look like my brother. Kurt is right. It is time for us to tell you my story. Where finally, the mystery of my fate at long last will be revealed.”

“And it only took a hundred and ten years to happen,” Kurt added.  
______________________________________________________________________________

When the tale was told and finished, the three young men (seated across from one another on chairs) eyed each other curiously. Kurt and Blaine were intently staring at Avery's beautiful face for any signs that he bought the story or not. The man in question was currently sitting backwards on his chair, his arms crossed over the back and cradling his chin, where his expression was quite intense. Avery straightened up, rubbing the bottom of his chin, and finally chose to enlighten his two story-tellers. “Well... that is quite a story you two got there... one that, while pretty crazy, is nearly convincing enough for me to believe you... almost.”

As hopeful as Kurt might have been, he knew that -- unlike his dad -- Avery didn't know them, so didn't have any reason to trust or believe their claims.

Neither was Kurt confident enough to try to sway him with other means; he wasn't used to flirting and sure wasn't going to offer his body for that matter. “If it hadn't happened to me... I wouldn't believe it either...” Kurt admitted.

“Nor I,” Blaine agreed.

“You didn't cast a spell on me or anything did you? Cause looking into those blue eyes of yours is making me tingle...” Avery flirted at Kurt.

“Must you keep courting him at the worst possible time?” Blaine muttered with a groan, not that any time would be good in his mind.

Avery laughed at the outdated term, “Court? Either you're a good actor or you really are from the nineteen-hundreds. I'm not trying to court him... I'm flirting, there's a difference,” he corrected.

“You don't even know his name yet!” Blaine protested.

“Oh you're right. You got a name, bright-eyes?”

Kurt had no idea how to act in this situation. Everything happening to him in the past few days was very new and unexpected. “It's Kurt,” he answered nervously.

“You know, I'm forgetting the best piece of news: if this guy's Blaine... then that means you're single, Kurt.”

The flattered young man wasn't really sure he liked the attention Avery was giving him and it was hardly a good time to give flirting back a try. “Anyway... getting back to the main issue here. I know it sounds crazy but this really is Blaine, knocked out of his own time.”

“You would know better than most that my disappearance was never solved, Avery,” Blaine said.

“Yeah... your parents went all out in trying to find you, to no avail,” Avery agreed.

“If only there was some way for Blaine to prove his identity...” Kurt muttered.

A light bulb just went on in Avery's mind, his whole face lighting up at his sudden epiphany! Leaping up from the chair and coming to beam at the teens, he looked very much like Cooper in that moment. “Actually there is a way! Come on! Follow me and we'll find out for sure!” he shouted, pointing forward and rushing out of the library.

Kurt and Blaine were both up in a flash and chased after the runaway lord, hardly able to keep up, but they didn't lose him down the hall.

“Where is he going?” Kurt asked Blaine as they continued to run.

“I have no clue!” Blaine called back.

Since the only way to find out was to reach wherever Avery was leading them to, the pair picked up the pace and after a few twists and turns, arrived. Straight away Blaine knew where they had ended up, even if the furniture arrangement was different. “This is where the family safe is located,” Blaine explained to Kurt as they fully stepped into the room.

But there was no safe hidden behind a painting like Kurt would have imagined. Instead there was a large vault, complete with heavy lock. But the real deterrent for any possible burglars was the hidden security put in place, which were of course magical in origin. Kurt shuddered as he thought what tripping any of those would bring on and he was fine in not finding out first hand.

Avery hadn't started to unlock any of the barriers. Instead he turned to Blaine and gestured with his arms for his possible uncle four times back to take over. “If you're who you say you are, you should know how to get in, right? Because every child of the Andersons is showed how to when they turn sixteen,” he urged.

Blaine did indeed know how to unlock the safe and remain unharmed. “How are you able to do the same without magic?” he asked, stepping up to the safe and slipping through the first physical barrier with ease.

“The last Anderson to have magical talent, a cousin of yours who died in the First World War, made the necessary adjustments to the old foundation spells, so that any direct line of the Andersons could do things without needing the use of magic. Later on mages were hired to renew and adjust what spells were needed. But of course, none of them were ever as formidable as they once were,” Avery explained.

Blaine turned his complete focus to casting the precise order of counter-spells to correctly get past every protective barrier. Again Blaine's genetic and magic signature was recognized as he continued and met no resistance. Blaine soon placed an unscathed hand on the large lock and began to turn the crank until there was a loud click. The piece de résistance was when Blaine used a spell to pull open the heavy door. With his job done, he took a graceful bow. “So exactly what am I searching for?”

Not bothering to answer, Avery glided past Blaine and disappeared into the safe within, only to return shortly after with an item in hand. It was one that both Kurt and Blaine recognized instantly, a small leather bound book with the initials B.D.A etched in gold on the spine.

“Is that... Blaine's journal?” Kurt asked.

“The original one, penned by Blaine's own hands. Cooper wanted to leave his long lost brother a message before he died, in case he returned when Cooper would no longer be alive to see him. The spell was encased in your journal and from what I've been told... it should activate with your touch,” Avery explained, holding the journal out for its owner to take.

“What would happen if he isn't the actual Blaine?” Kurt questioned, for curiosity’s sake.

“Nothing. See for yourself,” Avery replied and without warning the tossed the book to Kurt who managed to catch it.

On reflex Blaine snapped into rescue mode and rushed up to Kurt, grabbing onto his shoulder in alarm, ready to snatch the book away. Only there was no need: Avery's claims were true. Nothing happened; Kurt was as unharmed as he had been a moment ago. “Oh thank god,” Blaine breathed with relief.

Either Avery wasn't actually offended by Blaine thinking he had been bluffing, or his usual smile hid it very convincingly. “You do realize Kurt was never in any danger... what do you take me for?” Avery scoffed.

Whether he had been in any real danger or not, Kurt still found Blaine's valiant efforts very chivalrous and in turn, romantic. “Take it, Blaine. Prove our honour,” Kurt coaxed as he held the book out to Blaine in offering.

Blaine knew he had to but he was unsure if he could recover from hearing his brother's last message. He was already becoming so fragile as it was. Was he emotionally stable enough to manage any more? Seeing as he really had no choice, because any excuse could put them in a bad light, he nodded at Kurt. “Very well... when did Cooper make this message for me?”

“When he was around fifty or so... if my memory’s correct...” Avery answered.

So Blaine would see his brother when he would most likely was still holding onto his youthful good looks and only maturing gracefully with age, as opposed to seeing him weak and frail at the end of his life. That was something, then. “Right... here goes...” Blaine said as he took the journal from Kurt's outstretched hands.

This time, when the journal was reunited with its rightful owner the contact led to a real reaction starting with a burst of light. Wisps of silver energy trailed through the air and started to tunnel together like a vortex, forming an image of a man past middle age. One who, even when he was close to thirty years his senior, still bore a striking resemblance to the current Anderson heir. His hair had lighter streaks even in the grey shades of his image and his face was worn, but Blaine still knew his beloved older brother when he saw him. Beloved, how tragically ironic that realization was. Back when Blaine was subjected to his brother's tiring ways, Blaine wanted nothing but to escape. Now, facing the ghost like figure before him was nearly heartbreaking. “Cooper?”

As if the mere image of Cooper had heard his brother call his name, his face formed a warm smile in recognition. “Blaine... I always knew that you could not be dead... so I left this message in case. It has been so long since I've seen your face or heard your voice. I wish I had something profound to say but I never had your knack for words. But I know what to start with: saying I am truly sorry. I had no idea of the silent burdens you were bearing on the inside. It is so like you to bottle your true feelings up and hide them behind your usual whimsical smile. I am sorry I shall never get to tell you in person, but you need to know. Nothing you were hiding would have made me sorry to be your brother. You not wanting to marry Grace, or your plans to run away and not even your attraction to men. None of that matters. What does matter is that you are still and always will be my brother. So welcome home and know that you were sorely missed by all who knew you and those who never had the honour to,” Cooper's haunting voice said, filling the room.

Blaine's fears came true: he couldn't take it. The pain that beautiful message brought caused the grief-stricken young man to collapse onto the floor. Blaine cried out with remorse; there was nothing left in him to try to hold back. “It's too much...”

Kurt was quick to act and came to hover over Blaine helplessly, unsure how he could help in this instance. What could he do? Kurt couldn't make the void in Blaine's heart go away, but he refused to sit back and do nothing. So he wrapped his arms gently around Blaine's crumpled body and offered what little comfort he could with the contact. “Shh, Blaine, let it out... you've kept too much inside for long enough,” he cooed.

Meanwhile the third man in the room wasn't used to such an emotional sight, having no real gauge for tact. “No knack for words my ass, the guy’s a poet!” Avery exclaimed. Chuckling away, Avery looked over at the pair and was met by Kurt's icy stare that made him shiver. “What?”

“Show a little discretion!” Kurt hissed.

Avery finally gave Blaine's current state proper attention, realizing his cocky attitude was going too far and he back pedalled. He bent down to pick up the fallen journal and dusted it off since the spell was over and had done its job. Blaine was who he and Kurt said he was and the realization rocked Avery back on his heels. “Guess that proves it, you're Blaine Anderson... wow... who would have thought time travel was possible!” he shouted without swearing this time.

Kurt was too occupied with a near hysterical Blaine to give any comeback, “You're telling me,” he muttered.

Blaine finally managed to stop his muffled sobbing and stirred in Kurt's arms. “Thank you, Kurt. You know just what to do to help me recover...”

“Anytime,” Kurt said softly in reply, so only Blaine would hear.

Composure regained, or enough so Blaine could continue on and not risk breaking down again, he who stood back up. Kurt kept him steady as he straightened his body and he walked out of his friend’s embrace to come and stand in front of Avery. “I did not come here by choice and I have no idea how to return. But perhaps if you were to help me...” Blaine began, pausing to reach out and take hold of Kurt's hand and pull him closer. “... help us rather, in making the spell work this time, I will be able to change history... where I will get to tell my brother thank you.”

_________________________________________________________________________

Avery was game to brainstorm with the two break-ins, and quickly offered help in coming up with a battle plan. The end result had been rather surprising, but then, Blaine and Kurt should have known better than to expect any type of norm. Any attempts to find any useful information in the Anderson's family archives came up stalemate. Nothing back then gave any insight or missing links for why the spell had failed to work. It was Avery to suggest what else could be done, offering to give both versions of the spell (original and revised) to the best and brightest mages to make a quick study . Blaine quickly voiced his concern, fearing his presence in the future could be discovered and as a consequence, his dreams of going back to find his soulmate would be crushed. With the assurance that Avery would be discreet and act like he was simply curious, the trio parted ways.

Blaine felt as unnerved as the last time he was in the passenger seat of Kurt's car, only now for an entirely different reason. He found the idea of leaving his fate in the hands of someone he didn't know (although a blood relation) very reckless. If Blaine were to stop and think on that a bit more, it would show how special Kurt was because he was someone Blaine trusted with his life. “I still do not fully trust Avery's ability to solve my predicament...”

“Blaine... we really don't have anything else to go on now. Clearly no information from the past is going to help. Avery's right, we need to use everything this modern day and age has to offer. No one's looked at your spell for years, Blaine, so a breakthrough is long overdue,” Kurt pointed out.

“I suppose it was clever to suggest not focusing on how the spell sent me here but why.”

“You see? I mean, he is an Anderson... have more faith in your own bloodline.”

Blaine didn't miss the dreamy look on Kurt's face and even with no proof he could guess the cause. “You fancy him...” he accused.

Kurt was too busy driving to give a proper dramatic response, making a sound of disgust instead. Yes Avery was attractive and Kurt had found him charming, if a little forward but that was none of Blaine's business. Blaine's judgemental tone made Kurt feel like he was desperate for attention. “What are you even... come on, Blaine...” Kurt protested but his aversion didn’t sound very believable. “Okay, maybe I'm a little smitten, but he is drop dead gorgeous... if you haven't noticed.”

“And he was flirting with you,” Blaine added.

“Am I not allowed to like when guys try to flirt with me?”

“Not when you have far more pressing things to focus on, like getting me back to my rightful time!”

Blaine wasn't the only one who had bottled up emotions; Kurt was going through his own trials of stress over the last few days. The guilt from bringing Blaine here, then more guilt over wishing he could stay, then longing that he could experience the type of love others seemed to find so easily: all of this and more was making Kurt very cranky. Which made it easier to start to squabble with Blaine, because no matter how mature they could act at times, they were still teenage boys. “Don't forget that when you do go back, I'll be left here alone... where's my chance to meet my soulmate? Did you ever stop to think how I might feel and what I want?”

No, Blaine had to admit he hadn't thought of any of those points, or how Kurt might feel when Blaine was gone. “Kurt... I never meant to...”

Letting out a tired sigh and making himself relax (because he didn't want to fight with Blaine), Kurt tried to let go. They needed to remain on the same team to keep focused on their goal. Yes, if they managed to get the spell to work and Blaine went back to his own time, they would part ways. But Blaine never belonged with Kurt in the first place, and so he didn't owe him anything in return. “I know you didn't, which is why I'm willing to forgive and forget,” he replied.

Blaine felt Kurt's generosity needed to be rewarded and the means to do so came to him right at the perfect time. “How about this? If the spell works and I do find my soulmate, I'll write the spell down and send it to you somehow. So the moment I am gone, you can find it and meet your own true love. Would that return the favour?” Blaine offered, feeling that it was very clever of himself.

Any teenager trying to survive through high school knew how to hide their true feelings and this time was no different for Kurt. He couldn't think how anyone he might meet, not even his destined soulmate, could be better than Blaine. Blaine was handsome, charming, caring and a person he already felt strongly connected to. Why did a soulmate seem second best to Blaine in comparison? This was one of those rare times where Kurt really wanted to be proven wrong. If there was some unknown guy out there who was better for him than Blaine, then bring him on.  
_____________________________________________________________________________

For the third time in two days Burt came home to find yet another dramatic event taking place under his own roof and he was surprised as ever. He found Kurt sitting alone in the kitchen, silently drinking a cup of tea. The situation might have been pretty usual if it weren't for the fact that the Hummels' current house guest, was nowhere in sight.

“Oh, hey, Kurt... where's Blaine?” Burt asked as he looked around for the young man in question.

“Upstairs brooding...” Kurt answered absentmindedly.

“Kay... why is he upstairs brooding then? When you're down here doing what looks like the same thing?” Burt questioned, changing tactics.

Giving his dad any answer meant Kurt would have to address the very annoyances he was trying to ignore. But he knew better than to BS his way through an explanation, so he let out a tired sigh before attempting maturity. “We hit a setback, which led to a possible breakthrough." Literally, he thought, because he and Blaine had broken into the Anderson manor. "Now we've been forced to sit back and wait for any results and it's left us in a weird mood...”

“Are you two kids fighting or something?”

“I'd say no... but then we sure aren't very chummy right now.”

“Cut to the case, Kurt, while you're still young and I'm alive.”

There had never been a father-son talk at the Hummel house about Kurt having boy troubles. In fact, there wasn't a hint of a relationship forming for Kurt since his coming out, and their inexperience in that department showed. “I think we're both frustrated... because things aren't coming together the way either of us hoped. Now there's nothing left to distract us and we don't know what to do about it.”

“Moping around down here won't get you guys in a better mood. You both seemed so gung-ho yesterday. Fill me in on the details here, kiddo, so I can paint a better picture,” Burt urged.

So Kurt told Burt what had happened, changing a detail here and there so their breaking into the Anderson manor wasn't revealed. Kurt said instead that they encountered Avery during a fully allowed tour and that had led to Blaine's identity being revealed. His arrival brought on a new source of information the boys could use but at the same time, it also meant staying on the sidelines.

“Seems like that this Avery guy offering to help is a good thing. You look like you could use a break to me,” Burt deduced.

Did his dad always need to be so right on the mark whenever they spoke? Kurt always appreciated Burt’s wise advice but he rarely knew how to use it practically. “And do what, exactly?” Kurt pressed.

“I dunno, go talk to Blaine, maybe show him around town tomorrow after class?”

“You don't think I've already considered that? I have... but that would only make things worse! Blaine doesn't belong here dad, he's not staying. If I were to show him what the future's like -- and I don't mean things like technology or pop culture -- I mean how people like us, who are gay or different, finally have some freedom. What if my trying to help him embrace this time only makes it that much harder to forget when he's back in the past? How do you live a regular life after seeing that much? It seems impossible to me. He could go into some sort of post traumatic shock,” Kurt explained softly. “Even if he's fine, as soon as he meets his soulmate... what if he forgets all about me? Meanwhile I'll still be here, alone, and left with nothing but bitter memories.”

Burt wasn't sure he was ready for this; he hadn't realized what was really making his son so depressed. “I'll be here too, don't I count for something?” he joked, hoping a little humour would break the tension.

The attempt worked somewhat and Kurt was able to crack a weak smile; he was acting a bit too over dramatic. Besides, Blaine's kind offer to send the spell his way meant he might not be so alone for long. But his current blue mood all came back to how he felt about Blaine -- and that he shouldn't. “Do you think the idea of soulmates is real, dad?” he asked, point blank.

“I dunno, Kurt, but I know what I do believe in: you. So prove me right and go talk to Blaine. Sure, he might not be here for long, he's out of place and you're out of time, to quote Hall and Oates.But for now... he's still here.”  
_____________________________________________________________________________

During Blaine's moment of solitude up in Kurt's bedroom (Kurt hadn't protested when he (Kurt) had left) the young man wasn't faring any better when it came to lifting his mood. There was simply too much to process in his already full mind and having nothing to do wasn't helping. Why had he let Kurt run off again? Oh right, he felt the awkward air between them but had no sense as to how to fix it. Usually to find a solution, one needed to know the cause of damage, and that was another dead end. Before he could start to understand why Kurt was so distant Blaine knew he had to focus on himself first. Blaine was used to being left to his own devices and he normally dealt with problems on his own. As a gesture of good faith and a promise that he would deliver, Avery had returned Blaine's journal to its rightful owner. Thanks to extensive preservation spells, it was in perfect condition, looking no different since Blaine had made the last entry. A slow and quiet song was playing in the background as Blaine started to write his first new entry in over a century.

_Blaine Anderson's Journal entry.  
March 9th, 2013:_

_No, that date was not incorrectly written. I find myself in the future and that is still hard to fully comprehend. The spell I last wrote about did not work as planned, or really at all. What did happen is still under investigation. Yesterday, on my birthday, I ended up in the bedroom of a young man named Kurt Hummel. Who, like myself, is a resident of Ohio, close to my own age, a magical student and most amazingly: gay. Gay, that is the term now used to describe what I am, who we are I suppose. I was never really one to fantasize about the future beyond my own life and so I never made any guesses to what it might hold. If I had, I know I would be wildly off anyway, so maybe that is for the best. I do not even know where to begin in this entry, there is so much to cover. But I do not need to write down exactly what my situation is; I doubt I will ever forget it. I know what I should do, write what I am feeling but I am hesitant there. Avery's offer to help could very well make it possible for me to return to my own time. To make the spell work and for me to find my soulmate, who I risked everything to meet. I had always thought I was a patient man but as I sit here, writing away, I find that is not so true anymore. So what has changed? If I were to look at the evidence before me, answers might arise but none I am all that comfortable with. Each one is connected to Kurt somehow and that is the root of the odd mood I am currently in._

Blaine paused after writing down that last sentence. Even when Kurt had promised he wouldn't look at his journal, and Blaine in turn trusted his sincerity, it still felt very unnerving to write down anything when it came to Kurt and his feelings pertaining to the witty young man. Stubborn persistence egged him onward; he had never erased anything from his journal before and he wasn't about to now.

_For the first time in my life, my firm opinion of romance and love is wavering and no matter how much I try to deny it, I believe Kurt is the reason. He is the most wonderful person, so full of life and exuberance that I find truly captivating. My fascination with him might have something to do with the fact that he is from the future. Or how envious I am at how confident he is but that isn't the main reason why he is so appealing to me._

_I shall digress for a moment to go over my first reaction to him when we first met. I foolishly thought he was my soulmate, that was who I expected to meet after-all. I did not think a person could be that attractive, and he matched my vision of what I pictured my one true love would be like. But he is not the one for me; we are young men from different times. Love cannot transcend such a distance, that I am sure of and I need to remind myself this constantly. Whatever connection I might feel with Kurt, or how jealous I apparently become when he is shown attention from other men, it is not meant to be. It is not like I am in love with him, even when I have never experienced it before. I gather it would feel different. Kurt, for all I know, is still significant to me in some way, perhaps we are kindred spirits of sorts. Romantic love is not everything, bonds can formed without it. But back to my hesitance, where now I am alone and Kurt is elsewhere. I believe my trepidation is that if I allow myself to know Kurt better, it will be that much harder to say goodbye._

There it was, written with a ball point pen instead of a fountain pen: the reason Blaine had been searching for. Blaine leaned back in Kurt's computer chair, letting out a deep breath. He'd miss him, it was as simple as that. “What now...” he said softly to himself.

“We buck up and stop hiding from one another?” A soft voice answered without any prompting.

At the sound of Kurt's voice, Blaine spun around in his chair, and instead of showing surprise, smiled in response. “A grand idea, Kurt.”

“What's with the music?” Kurt asked curiously, choosing to start with the obvious.

Another smile, a normal response when it came to Kurt, and Blaine tried not to let that be anything to fret over. “Ah... I had been trying to 'google' for information like you taught me... but I found myself feeling homesick. I wrote in 'Ohio 1903' and most results were to what I discovered was a song. By someone named Randy Newman,” Blaine explained, gesturing to the screen of Kurt's laptop.

Kurt stepped up to find Blaine had a browser window open on YouTube, where the song 'Dayton Ohio, 1903' was playing and he chuckled. “Feel any better?” he asked, noticing there was a new entry in his journal.

Blaine shrugged, closing his journal to keep its contents hidden (not that he thought Kurt would try to sneak a peek) and stretched his muscles, stiff from sitting for so long. “Somewhat, but I know what will make me feel even better,” he began, his smile widening to cheeky proportions.

Finding this new, more playful side of Blaine enjoyable, Kurt felt no need to discourage him as he sat down on the bed. “Really? Do tell,” he urged.

“By apologizing to you for the sorry state I find myself in and for my uncalled for actions in the car...”

“You mean when you were getting jealous over Avery?”

“I suppose that is what I was doing. You were right though, who you choose to flirt with is none of my concern.”

Kurt wasn't sure why he was being so catty but since Blaine didn't seem offended, he kept it up. “No, it's not. But I wasn't even flirting back at Avery, for the record. But your feeling down and being jealous isn't anything to apologize over. I should say I'm sorry, too... just to make this even, because I'm hardly innocent here. I think we've been so caught up in this whole... experience, we didn't have any time to let it all sink in until now, and I know I'm not handling it very well...”

“Me neither,” Blaine admitted.

“Again, that's justified, but not when it comes to how we're acting around one another. I feel the need to explain my actions... can I try?”

“Oh please do, so I can attempt the same!” Blaine exclaimed.

Kurt knew running away from anything was never a good idea so he didn't try to stall the inevitable this time. “I'm afraid if I show you around or tell you about the future, you won't be able to adapt when you go back to the past. Not only that, but if we were to spend quality time together, forgetting how we come from different times... it will... make our parting more difficult.” Kurt admitted.

This was more proof of how much Blaine and Kurt had in common, their fears were one and the same. Blaine was left to agree and elaborate. “I feel the same way, Kurt. The more I learn about this era... the less I want to leave it. I'm finding that my desire to meet my soulmate and return back to my own time is lessening. But then... keeping my distance from you and all this... is equally unpleasant.”

Heart racing, Kurt hid his delighted smile behind his knees. What did that mean? Was he the reason why Blaine didn't want to leave? “Things like love at first sight and soulmates are fun to dream about... but... is it really that simple? I mean, how can you know when you meet someone if you're destined to live out your lives together?”

“I don't know... I wanted to believe it was possible. It kept me strong back then.”

“I think there's something between us, Blaine... please tell me you feel it?” Kurt said, glancing at him nervously.

“I do... and I believe I have since I laid eyes on you...” Blaine replied softly.

Just because Blaine and Kurt were both hopeless romantics didn't mean they knew what that connection was, and the risk to mislabel it was too great to voice any guess.

“But I cannot forget that my coming here was an accident, Kurt. I don't belong here. I wish I could, but... I have to go back. There is a reason time travel shouldn't be possible. When I take note of that... I think I know what that makes us... we're kindred spirits, Kurt, two young men from different eras who are still very similar,” Blaine explained.

Kurt couldn't stop his smile falling a little at that confession but it was still something to feel grateful for. Even if their relationship could never grow to anything romantic he figured finding a kindred spirit was just as good. In all his eighteen years Kurt had never met anyone like Blaine, who he connected with so easily. Blaine's being born in the 1800s certainly didn't stop them from having so much in common. “Kindred spirits... I like it... It suits us Blaine, and you know... you showing up in my bedroom might have been a magical fluke, but you're still here and I'd like to spend what time we have left... together.”

Blaine nodded in agreement, “I would like that as well Kurt... in fact...”

“Yes?”

Turning his attention back to Kurt's laptop, Blaine clicked the play button again. “I was wondering if perhaps I could sing this song in glee club tomorrow?” he finished.

Even when he wasn't expecting a request like that, Kurt let out a therapeutic laugh, “I'm sure Mr. Schue would allow that... but you'll need my help to memorize it in time.”

“I was hoping you would offer your services,” Blaine replied.

Three hours later, Burt, who had been trying to act natural and forget that his son was upstairs in his bedroom with a boy alone, found the odd silence alarming. Because for the last two hours he kept hearing music and muffled laughter upstairs, but now nothing. Burt found that it was his right as a parent to check up on his kid, considering how late it was on a school night. Burt climbed the stairs, making his way to Kurt's bedroom and was relieved to find the door still open.

“Hey boys... I think it's time for bed, you got school tomorrow...” Burt began to warn, keeping his tone light.

Inside was something Burt had never wanted to see. There were Kurt and Blaine, snuggled up together and asleep on the bed. They were still fully clothed (thankfully) and there were no signs that they had gotten up to no good. Burt actually admitted the slumbering pair looked pretty damn adorable. If Burt forgot where Blaine came from and when, the sight would have seemed more normal, like two boyfriends had fallen asleep after spending a fun and innocent day together. Burt shook his head; he was torn between leaving them alone and in peace or breaking up the tender scene and forcing one of them to sleep downstairs. What made his mind up was the fact that Burt would never get to sleep himself if he left them be. So he leaned over the bed and shook Kurt's shoulder lightly, making Blaine move in turn.

“Hey, sleeping beauties, one of you needs to head downstairs,” Burt said, his voice loud enough to wake them both.

That did the trick, and Blaine and Kurt's sleepy eyes fluttered open and became equally alarmed when they realized how close they were to each other. They might have overreacted if Burt wasn't there, but instead they looked sheepishly up at the adult giving the pair a stern look.

“Sorry, dad... we fell asleep by accident,” Kurt apologized, sitting up and moving a safer distance away from Blaine.

“Uh-huh, time for bed... apart, capisce?” Burt said in warning.

Apparently Blaine's talent with languages didn't include Italian.He flashed Kurt a confused look, who instantly did his job as future translator for his kindred-spirit.

“He's asking if we understand, which we do. One of us will head downstairs to sleep on the couch in a second,” Kurt explained.

Blaine grinned bashfully. The one good thing about not sticking around in the future for long was he didn't have to remember any modern sayings. He nodded in agreement and added his own assurance to Burt, who believed them enough to take his leave. Alone again, they were relieved to discover the awkward atmosphere was gone, but they still felt a little flustered. “Thank you for your help tonight, Kurt. I hope it won't be all for nought tomorrow when I attempt to sing the song.”

“Well if you do mess up, just blame it on your being foreign, that should do the trick,” Kurt suggested with a smirk.

“I was hoping you might show me around town tomorrow when class is over?”

Now there was a request that earlier Kurt would have tried to avoid, but now, he found no urge to hide his delight. “I'd love to, Blaine, though honestly Lima isn't that exciting... but that might be a good thing. If we were in someplace as grand as New York, you might become too overwhelmed.”

“I've been there, back in my own time of course, and it is very dazzling,” Blaine admitted.

“That it is, I'm hoping to go there for college actually!”

“I think you'd fit right in, it seems the sort of place you would like to live.”

Kurt got up from the bed and quickly picked out his clothes for the night, placing Blaine's nightly lend of pyjamas on the bed. Helping Blaine learn his song choice to sing in glee club had been a lot of fun, since music was yet another interest they shared. Kurt found Blaine's delight over discovering the many types of music the future held very charming, which had led to an enjoyable evening of melody, laughter and communion. “Well, I guess I'll head off then, and don't you dare try to insist I take the bed. I did that last night and you promised we'd take turns!” Kurt exclaimed, cutting off Blaine's protests.

“Goodnight Kurt, I shall see you in the morning,” Blaine said with a light smile, knowing a lost cause when he saw one.

Kurt hardly found his moment of victory worth celebrating, so he told Blaine a shy goodnight before taking his leave from the room.

Before turning in for the night Blaine went back to his journal and made one final addition to his entry there.

_There is this burning question I cannot ignore: If you were to meet someone, who you knew was not your soulmate but who you still felt drawn to, could you walk away from them and what you felt inside? Or would you dare to embrace both? No matter what the future may hold?_


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the song Blaine sings, a total fluke but one I wanted to use. I was looking up Ohio 1903 and found it. 
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrTdiNkhnOc

Chapter Four

For the very first time in Blaine's usually privileged young life, he found himself being the first to get up in the morning. Back home the staff were always awake hours before anyone else, busily working behind the scenes. Once up and out of bed Blaine started off his new morning routine like he was just another teenager getting ready for school. Taking a quick shower was first and looking after his appearance came next. Kurt had broken to Blaine that using so much hair product nowadays wasn't the norm and he should let his curls fall free a bit. Without Blaine needing to ask Kurt put as much thought and effort into Blaine's clothes that he did for his own outfits. Blaine greatly admired Kurt's fashion sense and how well he looked as a result. Wearing less form fitting clothes was a new trend Blaine was ready to embrace. No more high collars that scratched his neck or tight fitting waistcoats which made it hard for him to breathe. Soon he was dressed and Blaine looked at his reflection in the mirror to make one final check. He sure looked like Kurt's modern day visiting pen-pal, dressed in a flattering shirt, sweater-vest and jeans combo. On his way downstairs Blaine ran into Kurt and the pair greeted one another cheerily. The conversation while fun was quick since Kurt needed to have his own shower, so Blaine let him go. When he arrived at the kitchen Blaine found Burt there sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

“Morning Blaine,” Burt said casually.

Blaine smiled politely back at Burt, “Good morning, sir,” Blaine replied in his usual polite tone. His new temporary home was nothing he was used to but what the Hummels lacked in wealth they made up in acceptance. With his family there was always a cold formality that went past the etiquette of the era.

“Drop the sir okay... this ain't some rich manor house,” Burt requested with a light chuckle.

“I am very glad it is not...” Blaine said. “I find myself feeling right at home.”

Burt already knew he did considering how easily he navigated the kitchen, knowing exactly where everything was. Not to mention the fact that Blaine was wearing Kurt's clothes and it was hard to remember he'd only showed up three days ago. The young man was acting more like Kurt's long term boyfriend than a boy who wanted to go back to his rightful time. Burt knew he needed to talk to Blaine about it, to save them all some grief. “So Blaine, I don't want you to feel unwelcome here but... you should be more careful...” Burt said.

Blaine immediately picked up on the unease in Burt's voice and he put down the loaf of bread he was holding. His posture was now more formal than a moment ago because Burt's comment could go in so many ways. “With what exactly?” he asked, needing better clarification.

“With Kurt's heart,” Burt answered at point blank.

Those words of warning did little to keep Blaine calm; instead he sputtered off in alarm at the very idea. “I haven't, I would never! Kurt's heart isn't mine!” he protested.

“Which is why I'm offering you advice instead of running you outta the house. You don't really know Kurt well enough to understand what you're doing. You being all charming and stuff is affecting him; big time. You two don't see it but I sure do and if you don't watch out... he's gonna get hurt, Blaine."

“Hurting Kurt is the last thing I would ever want to do.”

“I get that...”

“Then what exactly are you asking me to do here? To stay away from him? Would that not hurt him too?”

Having two kids to be a father figure to (being a father and a stepfather) was more than enough for Burt to handle. Throwing Blaine into the mix was seriously challenging his earning the 'world's best dad' mug Kurt had given him on his last birthday. "I know better than anyone how that wouldn't work. Kurt would never let you ignore him and he'd make you say why. Then I'd be the one getting in trouble. You don't have to keep your distance, just be more aware of your actions. You can say you don't belong here all you want, but you need to mean it. If you're so set on going back, then you have to play it safe. Kurt's not the only one who could wind up getting hurt either."

Blaine nodded, “Thank you si-, Mr. Hummel. I will be more careful from now on," he assured appreciatively.

The tender moment wasn't interrupted by Kurt, but by Finn stumbling half-awake into the kitchen. “Hey Burt, Blair,” he mumbled.

The casual way that Finn greeted Blaine (who still thought he was Kurt's actual pen-pal) made Burt and Blaine break out into light laughter and both were fine to let the subject drop, for now.  
______________________________________________________________________________

“Okay guys, we have a special guest who asked if they could sing for us...” Will announced.

“Did Britney finally answer my tweets?” Brittany asked in her usual clueless way.

Will ignored her comment like it was any other day and gestured towards Blaine to step up front and start his performance. Kurt nudged Blaine with his elbow in encouragement and watched him go with affection, making it really looking like Blaine was his boyfriend now.

The would-be performer stepped forward and cleared his throat, “I came across this song when I was researching about Ohio... and I wanted to sing it here. I feel the need to state that I am not musically trained... but I hope you'll enjoy my attempts nonetheless,” Blaine said, his voice sounding slightly nervous.

Whenever Blaine got flustered Kurt found him so cute it was hard not to swoon and he tried his best to act natural. On the inside Kurt was dying to hear Blaine's voice, the little hints he'd gotten so far (like his tendency to hum) weren't enough. Kurt ended up being the only one to give a light round of applause, stopping when no one joined in. The room fell silent as Blaine did the unthinkable and stepped up to the piano with the intention to play himself. Kurt held his breath when a silent showdown between Blaine and Brad broke out. But before he could rush to Blaine's rescue, the unbelievable happened. Brad stepped aside without any protest, keeping silent as ever and gave his spot over to Blaine without a fight.

“No way...” Puck muttered in shock.

“He's like a really polite superhero,” Sam added.

Blaine was unaware of the amazing feat he'd just pulled, so he took his earned spot at the piano and started to play a warm up. “Now I know this song isn't very cutting edge but sometimes it's nice go at a slower pace. Let me take you back to a different time... many years ago... and what Ohio once was like,” he said softly.

The soft voice coming from Blaine surpassed Kurt's wildest dreams, causing him to gaze dreamily away. He wasn't the only one who was impressed by Blaine's talents and the room fell silent from his entrancing voice.

_Sing a song of long ago_  
When things were green and movin' slow  
And people'd stop to say hello  
Or they'd say "hi" to you  
"Would you like to come over for tea  
With the missus and me?" 

So transfixed on Blaine's audio performance were the members of the New Directions, that at first they didn't notice the build of magical power forming around Blaine. Not until he started to literally glow with energy, engulfed in glittering light. Then, if that display wasn't enough, the light transformed into wisps of energy that started to form an image, like there was a movie protection in between Blaine and his audience, only without a screen. Blaine spell created the illusion of green grass across a beautifully kept lawn in the dappled sunlight.

_It's a real nice way_  
To spend the day  
In Dayton, Ohio  
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903 

The occupants of the choir room weren't suddenly transported back 110 years ago but they were still taken on a journey. No one made a sound, or pointed out that the use of magic outside of assigned classrooms was against the rules.

_Sing a song of long ago_  
When things could grow  
And days flowed quietly  
The air was clean and you could see 

_And folks were nice to you_  
"Would you like to come over for tea  
With the missus and me?" 

_It's a real nice way_  
To spend the day  
In Dayton, Ohio  
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in 1903 

No one was more spellbound than Kurt, who watched as the lyrics of the song were given physical form right before his very eyes. It wasn't strong enough to look like an actual video recording, but Blaine's show was still extremely impressive. Images of hands waving in greeting, tea cups clinking together, picture after picture flashed until the last note fell and the display disappeared. It was almost a lucky break that Kurt was too focused on the magical results of the song to give Blaine much notice. If there was nothing to distract Kurt from watching Blaine's beautiful performance then the results might turn (dangerously in Kurt's mind) romantic. So while Kurt was truly moved by Blaine's talent, he wasn't so swept up to the point where he'd fallen hopelessly in love with the young musician. Or so Kurt believed at this point.

At first there was no audible reaction to the number, and Blaine grew concerned until he saw his audience's facial expressions. There was no need for an explanation for the quiet reception, he could see it in their eyes: bewilderment mixed with wonder.

“Wow Blair... that was.... incredible.” Kurt stuttered, barely able to use his alias.

“Was it too much?” Blaine asked reluctantly.

“You mean the magic you used?” Kurt said.

“Which is totally against the rules! It's not fair. How many times have I wanted to enhance a performance with magic!” Rachel whined.

“I guess you didn't know using magic like that isn't allowed, Blair... so I won't report you,” Will declared.

Blaine hadn't been thinking about what he was doing while singing; his use of magic during a performance had formed out of habit. But he still should have known better and checked the rules of magic usage for the era. Too late now. “Thank you... I didn't realize... it won't happen again,” he assured, sounding like he was a permanent resident in the show choir group.

Kurt didn't get his chance to ask what that was all about until glee club was over and they were sitting alone in the safety of Kurt's parked car. Not that he found any of it really alarming; their little ruse was still going strong. But he was curious to why Blaine had gone for it. Was he trying to dazzle his friend that much?

“I should have been more careful... what if I had gotten in trouble?” Blaine muttered in annoyance.

“But you didn't, so don't beat yourself up over it. It was really beautiful to watch Blaine. It's like you've come up with a true art-form.”

Blaine's smile widened at Kurt's praise, to the point where he felt a little humbled. “It is a habit I formed since I was young... a little parlour trick to amuse the family. Cooper and I actually made a game of it. He would give me a song without warning and I'd have to create images from the lyrics while I sang at the same time.”

“Which adds more to the theory that music and magic have a bigger connection than believed.”

Thanks to Burt's gentle little warning Blaine was able to stop himself from making a playful remark and say it was shame they couldn't work on that breakthrough together. “Or maybe it does merely for us?” he suggested, though jokingly.

“Well... I must admit your illusion spell was rather spiffy... but you ain't seen nothing yet,” Kurt chimed.  
________________________________________________________________________________

Blaine had to be one of the few people in North America who ended up seeing the 3D film 'Great and Powerful Oz' without knowing a thing about its predecessor of a similar name. Kurt ended up paying more attention to his fellow movie-goer than the film (he'd seen it before anyway). Blaine's bewildered state, where he flinched, shouted and clapped with delight at any moment was a real treat to behold. Good thing the theatre was so dead on a Thursday night or else Blaine's antics might have brought attention to themselves but Kurt doubted that. Most people paid little attention to the world around them, especially since the invention of smart phones, but not Blaine. There were no technology blinders to hide his perception of the world.

Kurt and Blaine were currently walking down the street after clearing the theatre and Blaine hadn't stopped gushing since the credit roll. “That was simply amazing Kurt! The way the images were right in your face!”

“It's not my top choice for your first movie experience but I'm glad you enjoyed it,” Kurt said with an amused giggle.

“So what comes next?” Blaine urged with excitement.

The trouble with living in Lima was, there wasn't a whole lot to do when it came to thrilling pastimes. Any that Kurt could think of were very date like and on the whole rather sub-par. This was the proof to how boring Kurt's life usually was, even when he wasn't without friends. “Um... I'm still not done finalizing our plans... nothing seems grand enough.”

Yet again Blaine found Kurt's honestly refreshing and his little cheeky look that went with his confession even more infectious. “Kurt... you do not need to try so hard. In fact, I'd much prefer to experience an average day in Lima, Ohio, 2013. Surely you must have done something to pass the time before I came along...” Blaine scoffed, shaking his head in amusement.

“I did have a life before, friends even... but you're... different from them.”

“I'm well aware none of your friends are from 1903,” Blaine teased.

“I'm not being that literal Blaine, never mind,” Kurt grumbled. It was probably for the best anyway. If Kurt continued to say Blaine was special, that might make things worse off in the end. Who knew how many more days they had together before Blaine would be gone for good? Why waste that precious time with trying to figure out what exactly they were to one another? Being kindred-spirits was a pretty idea but it didn't necessarily lead to anything romantic. If Kurt were to think about his growing attraction to Blaine as the days passed, then the guilt he felt before would return full force.

During Kurt's little silent pause, Blaine decided to take matters into his own hands. “May I offer a suggestion then?” he said.

“Yes please,” Kurt chimed.

“It is supper time and I gather the young still eat dinner?”

“Very astute of you, Blaine, what an idea... you haven't really eaten anything but my own cooking and cafeteria food so far.”

With not a lot of places to consider (since Kurt's funds weren't endless and he refused to take Blaine to a fast food place), their restaurant of choice ended up being none other than Breadsticks. It was a little repetitive for Kurt maybe, but then, he'd never gone there with a boy before.

Blaine and Kurt were shown to their table, which was placed beside a window, giving Blaine the chance to look outside onto the street whenever he wanted. But such a distraction was hardly necessary; Kurt was all the entertainment he needed. Blaine had always been told he had a way with words and knew how to hold a good conversation, but Kurt took small talk and turned it into an art form. It said a lot that when Blaine found himself in the future he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings. He wanted to spend every possible moment with Kurt, and the fact that his stay would most likely be short, wasn't the main reason. Since Blaine was far more used to hiding his true feelings than his dinner partner, he might seem less affected by their growing chemistry. Really it was the opposite; there was good reason for Burt to warn the smitten young man about his intentions. If the world was truly perfect, Blaine would have already begun to properly court Kurt and make his growing attraction known. But he wasn't back in the nineteen-hundreds and Kurt wasn't a well-to-do lady he was betrothed to. Having a soulmate seemed such a far off pipe-dream now but Blaine tried his best to remember the love he dreamed to meet would be waiting for him back in his own time.

“So any idea what you might want to order?” Kurt asked, looking over the top of his menu.

“Was I supposed to be looking at the menu?” Blaine asked innocently, his playful act fooling no one. “I'd much rather have you order for me, since you know the cuisine here and you clearly have excellent taste,” Blaine requested.

“Hmm alright, if you insist,” Kurt said in reply, his voice getting flirty.

“I do indeed. I already find your taste in clothes quite impeccable.”

“You're too kind...”

Before either boy could go overboard with their flirtatious banter, a waitress Kurt knew approached the table to take their drink orders. Her sweet smile, with just the hint of a playful twinkle, showed she was equally prone to favouritism when it came to this particular young regular. Blaine beamed at her in greeting, mirror Kurt's own affectionate grin.

“Well hello there boys. What can I get you to drink?” she asked.

Kurt glanced to Blaine, who merely shrugged, granting Kurt the honour to make his refreshment decisions as well. Kurt playfully rolled his eyes at Blaine, making it clear that he wasn't actually annoyed by the silent request. “Uh... do you still have that delicious passion fruit ice tea I had the last time I was here, Nancy?” he asked.

She nodded at him, “Sure do. I'll bring two glasses right over!” she answered and turned away, only to look back and give Kurt a little wink.

Blaine noticed the look as well and gave Kurt a puzzled glance in return. “What was that about?”

“Nothing... I'm just one of her preferred customers...” Kurt lied, because he had a feeling she thought he and Blaine were on a date.

“Do you come here often?” Blaine asked, wondering how many other young men Kurt had entertained here.

Not getting what Blaine was now imagining, Kurt nodded. “Yeah, with my family and friends. Most of the glee club kids eat here... shows how few restaurants this town has.”

“I still find myself wondering what teens of the future do to pass the time...” Blaine admitted, more than willing to change the subject.

“I'm not really your average high-school senior Blaine. None of the New Directions are... well aside from the popular ones. Even then we're all pretty much some type of underdog, myself for sure. A lot of teens our age go to parties and believe me, they're nothing like the high society events you'd be used to. These are far more primitive, full of booze and half naked bodies and bedroom hook-ups are commonplace,” Kurt explained.

Blaine figured it was time to debunk one misconception about the past. “You know... much of that description still occurred at parties back in my day. They simply tended to happen behind closed doors and people were far more... discreet with their rendezvous. Except when it came to drinking, and there was no legal drinking age to get around either.”

“Like that ever stops anyone... but this makes me curious to what people our age did back then to pass the time,” Kurt said, turning the tables on Blaine's question.

Blaine was fine to switch focus and be the one to share cultural history with his friend. “Ah well... I hardly conformed to normal society, but never to the point of scandal. I did as I was told, went where I was supposed to and attended many a party like the ones you must be imagining. My talents with magic and music were a useful asset. If I hadn't been able to play the piano or cast spells for amusement I might have resorted to gambling, hunting or drinking to pass the time.”

“What about dancing? You must have still done that.”

“Yes, dancing at parties is unavoidable, and honestly, I did enjoy it. Just because I am not physically attracted to women does not mean I find associating with them unappealing. In fact I found the most enjoyable dance partners were the more distinguished ladies.”

“I bet at least none of them were husband hunting while dancing with you,” Kurt gathered.

“Not true, a number of those women had young unmarried daughters. But then I was already betrothed. So in some ways I owe Grace for being spared a lot of grief... though, as you can imagine, two men dancing back then would have been unheard of.”

Kurt let out a small sigh, “Then here we are... two equally boring guys who were born over a century apart. What does that say about the world’s growth?” he asked.

Before Blaine could give a witty counter-remark he saw Nancy return with their drinks in hand. “Hold that thought...”  
_______________________________________________________________________________

“You know... after eating one for myself I must attempt to recreate a hamburger when I'm back home,” Blaine stated as the pair left the restaurant.

For once the mention of Blaine's looming return wasn't a mood dampener, Kurt was feeling too cheery to let anything get him down in the dumps. So he kept grinning away as the two teens headed back to Kurt's car. “What if you screw up history and invent it too early?” Kurt muttered as he brought out his iPhone to do a quick internet search. “Oh this is interesting, there are a number of claims for who first invented it... but the earliest dates back to 1826, so you're safe then. I just wish I could be there to watch your cook’s reaction to you ordering it.”

That comment did make Blaine a little remorseful because his life back in the past would be far more bearable if Kurt were there to share it with. _'What am I thinking! If I were back home, I'd either be married to Grace by now... or off with my rightful soulmate.'_ He really needed to be more careful or he'd face the harsher side of Burt Hummel at this rate. “Enough of cooks, the dining portion of our evening is over. But I hope there is more to come...”

“I think this time... I'll be able to deliver,” Kurt sassed.

Kurt took Blaine out for a long drive, up into the boondocks and to higher ground. They found themselves at the top of a hill with Kurt's car parked at the edge of the cliff (at a safe distance away of course) which gave them a perfect view of the city below. It was late enough that the bright lights of the city were lit up in the darkening night. From their viewpoint, sitting on the hood of Kurt's Navigator with cups of hot chocolate, Blaine couldn't think of a place he'd rather be. But that wasn't the most significant detail, there was the fact that Blaine had been in this exact same place before, over a hundred years ago. “Kurt... how did you know?” he breathed.

Kurt, who had been taking a sip of his hot chocolate, tore his eyes away from the city below and frowned at Blaine. “Know what?”

To elaborate his answer, Blaine put down his cup and waved his arms around in front of him, gesturing at their view. “This place... how could you know that I've been here before?”

“You have?” Kurt blurted out in surprise.

Blaine nodded, “Yes... I started taking long walks in the countryside to have some sort of escape from my family. I first came across this place when I was fifteen, I believe... looking at the city below felt oddly calming. I supposed I wanted to break free from my life to get a little taste of freedom but it was never for long enough. Actually... that is probably when I got the idea of the soulmate spell to begin with...”

Kurt recalled a few references to such a spot in Blaine's journal entries, but he never put the two and two together. Nor was Kurt willing to admit the only reason he knew about this place was how it was sort of an unofficial make-out point for the students of McKinley. That fact that Lima even had something so cliché as a make-out spot was pretty lame. But didn't Kurt's bringing Blaine there (even when he had no intentions to make a move), make him just as pathetic? “I wish I could say I knew that... it's a neat coincidence though!”

“Yes, that it is,” Blaine agreed with a smile.

They both stopped talking for a short while after that, simply taking in the lovely view and enjoying one another’s company.

Until there was something still bothering Kurt enough that he felt the need to bring it up to Blaine. “Um Blaine, you know... back at the Lima Bean when we got our drinks. I couldn't help but notice the girl you were talking to when I was waiting on our order...” Kurt began innocently. At the time, the discovery of finding Blaine sitting next to a pretty blonde at the table where Kurt had just left him wasn't pleasant. Neither was how she kept on giggling at Blaine, who of course was so attentive and charming. “You do realize it looked like you were hitting on her.”

Blaine's reaction to his usual mannerisms being taken the wrong way was always quite a sight. This time it was no different when his carefree smile a second ago turned to near horror. “Not this again! Look, I was not trying to 'hit on her', whatever that even means!”

Kurt patted Blaine's shoulder lightly, feeling bad for bringing it up at all but now it was time for some damage control. “Blaine, relax, she wanted you to hit on her. I mean she showed all the classic signs of being into you. She kept laughing, twirling her hair and getting nice and close to you. I mean... you can't be that dense.”

He wasn't, but it had taken the girl (who was named Clair) gliding her fingers down Blaine's outstretched forearm to clue in. He'd dealt with such a scenario before and it was the one time he was glad to already be engaged, so he could mention Grace's name before things accelerated. When Blaine mentioned who he was with, her flirtatious act quickly dropped. “I'm not... in fact, when I casually slipped in that I was there with you, she wasn't offended... disappointed perhaps, but we left on good terms,” Blaine tutted, leaving out the one little fact that before she left, she said he had a cute boyfriend.

“You just need to be careful, Blaine. Your natural charisma could easily be taken as romantic interest,” Kurt warned, albeit thoughtfully.

The Hummels were full of advice, it seemed, and Blaine knew it would be wise for him to take it; courtship rituals were completely different now. One could take a relationship out in the open (and to the bedroom) before the wedding. Secret trysts (at least when no adultery was involved) no longer needed to be so hidden anymore. Of course every situation was different and Blaine was just as clueless about them as ever. “Thank you... I shall keep that in mind.”

Kurt didn't push the issue any further because he knew Blaine hadn't meant to lead the girl on. He'd seen Blaine point his way, and her immediate response to learning her cute coffee boy wasn't on her team. Kurt managed to stop himself from getting territorial and ignore the scene; Blaine wasn't his boyfriend anyway. _'At least it was a girl.'_ he thought.

There was one last thing Blaine wanted to bring up when it came to the topic of interest and boyfriends. “Kurt, may I ask you a personal question?” he asked reluctantly.

The hesitance in Blaine's voice was so endearing that Kurt couldn't deny him, though his body language did tense at the word personal. “Sure... go right ahead,” he encouraged.

“What is it like... to be an out teenager? I mean... the idea of not having to hide my sexuality from the world... is still so hard to fathom. For you to be able to spent time with boys, out in the open... to have a boyfriend and be able to call him that. How does it feel to have so much freedom?” Blaine asked softly.

Kurt wished he had some real experiences to share. "I know how lucky I am to be born in at a time like this. Some breakthroughs are happening and hopefully there's a lot more to come. When I came out I was proud of no longer hiding who I was. For a while I was the only out guy at my school..." Kurt explained, but he was getting past his point. "Back to your question though, basically I've never been on a date before. Or had anyone show any interest in me in that way," he admitted.

From his spot beside Kurt on the car Blaine felt a great deal of empathy for Kurt. How could young men still be fighting for their right to love whoever they wanted this far into the future? Blaine felt very close to Kurt in that moment as he took his hand and squeezed it lightly.

Kurt flashed Blaine a cute little grin and continued. “So because of that... I've never had anything but silly straight boy crushes that were pure disasters. No dating, no boyfriends... not even a chance to flirt even... in fact... I've never even kissed a boy...” Kurt admitted.

When Kurt's blue eyes looked right at Blaine his heart started to race. Kurt looked downwards, right at Blaine's mouth and he felt like jumping off the cliff before him. How else could he avoid doing what he really wanted to do in that instant? “You haven't?” he asked with surprise.

Kurt shook his head. “No...” he confirmed.

Blaine felt like Kurt's attractive features were putting him under a spell, where his lips were almost beckoning him forth. He gulped, trying to keep his distance and tread carefully but it was no use. "That is..." he whispered, his face inching closer, "... such a waste."

Now Kurt was the one to feel his heart-rate increase, or maybe it was just that it was becoming harder to breathe. Blaine was so close, his hand felt so warm and his whole presence was both calming and exhilarating at the same time. When Blaine leaned into him Kurt didn't sit back, he moved forward until their bodies were pressed together. All it would take was a few more inches and they would have their own moment in history: a first kiss.

Lord, did Blaine want to kiss Kurt! But if he did he knew there would be no turning back and he'd break his promise to Burt. He had no right to take away Kurt's first kiss, or either his own with a boy. There weren't any promises Blaine could give Kurt; they couldn't be together because he had to go back. Another boy, one who fit into Kurt's world, deserved the honour and he was out there, somewhere, waiting for their chance to meet. What right did Blaine have to rob that from him, whoever he was? But he didn't act on impulse and give into the romantic atmosphere. So there was no leaning in close so Blaine's lips could brush against Kurt's, no magical moment where time would seem to stop. As much as he wanted to experience a kiss that would mean something, he knew it was wrong. Of course the one time Blaine would have welcomed a convenient interruption there was no such luck. Blaine still ended up doing the right thing and drew his head back and hoped Kurt would forgive him.

Kurt didn't protest when Blaine withdrew. On the inside he was a little disappointed but it served him right. He'd gotten so caught up in the wonderful moment that he'd almost made a big mistake, so he was glad Blaine had enough sense to react. Good thing too, another minute and Kurt would have been the one to make the first move and wind up kissing Blaine. But he couldn't let whatever he felt for Blaine take advantage of his friend’s vulnerable state. He hid his true reaction behind a flawless but slightly shy smile as the two recovered from their close call.

“I suppose I should get you back home, before your father starts to worry,” Blaine said, sliding off the hood of the car.

“Probably a good idea. I've never given him reason to enforce a curfew and I'd like to keep it that way,” Kurt agreed, doing the same and heading for the driver’s side.  
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

How could someone who wasn't his soulmate feel so right in Blaine's arms and make him feel so alive in turn? The touch of Kurt's body electrified Blaine's entire being and fuelled his soul, making the sensual experience even more heightened. The sound of Kurt's soft moans of pleasure from his spot underneath Blaine, right in the fits of passion, were making parts of him react like never before. Blaine could barely register the pleasure coursing through his body and what Kurt was triggering with his precise movements. “Kurt...” Blaine groaned.

“I never thought it would feel like this...” Kurt's raspy voice breathed with delight.

“I never thought my first experience with sex would be like this at all,” Blaine laughed.

As if on cue, Kurt moved his body so they were even closer, clinging to Blaine as he started to thrust inside him once more. Blaine was careful to take his time and go slow; he wanted to make the memory one he'd never forget. The pace quickened as the lovers were reaching their breaking point as the climax neared.

***********************************

“Kurt!” Blaine cried out.

But Blaine's own subsequent outcry was not made in a sharp rush of passion, but from him jerking awake with empty arms. He found no one in bed with him; Blaine was alone and woken into consciousness from the most realistic dream ever experienced. Drenched in sweat, Blaine froze, hoping his outburst hadn't woken up anyone in the house. Because the second he realized everything had been a dream, he noticed how painfully erect he still was. This wasn't the first time Blaine experienced what the modern world called 'a wet dream' but never to this extent. The dream felt so real and Blaine swore he could almost taste Kurt's lips on his own. Blaine sat up on the bed, breathing hard as he forced himself to calm down. It seemed his subconscious was giving payback for Blaine not acting on his teenage desire earlier that night. Why was it that when Blaine chose to be responsible he was now being punished? At least no one was rushing to the room so that was something, but Blaine didn't feel very comforted. “That was so intense...” he mumbled.

Now what? He knew well enough if he didn't give his body some sort of release he'd regret it. But could he go there and remember the sensual images of his dream? It almost seemed wrong to envision himself with Kurt in such a sexual way without his consent. But then, how would he even know? No one could police what people thought or did with those said thoughts. So Blaine let his fierce want for sexual physical contact take control of his body and brought his hand to his cock.

It didn't take long for Blaine to achieve orgasm; thinking about Kurt's naked body entwined with his own sure did the trick. But when it was over and Blaine cleaned up the evidence, he hardly felt that much better off. Less tense, maybe, but not relaxed enough that he could go back to sleep. If he did that, would the dreams return? This was one experience Blaine refused to jot down in his journal; he needed to put it behind him and quick, so when he saw Kurt in the morning, he wouldn't face new levels of mortification.  
______________________________________________________________________________

Kurt was none the wiser to Blaine's worries the following day, thinking the odd air between them was merely from their almost kiss the night prior. Still, he didn't think that he and Blaine had hit a reef since they were still talking and sought each other’s company. Blaine was ever present, humming away as he was learning how to properly 'google' on Kurt's laptop, looking up whatever information he fancied. Kurt was glad he didn't need to personally give Blaine a lesson on living in the future and was content to leave him be for the moment. Their close proximity to one another, sitting beside each other on Kurt's bed, also didn't give any reason for alarm.

“Kurt... why are people in this era so concerned over who is the one to top or bottom when it comes to gay men?” Blaine asked all of a sudden.

Kurt nearly ended up falling off the bed, laughing away. “What in the world are you looking at?”

“I could hardly help it; the internet is full of adult themes... no matter what I type in. So I figured it would be useful to see what information is out there because as you can imagine... I am quite lacking in that department. During my looking for sources of information, I keep coming across the terms top and bottom,” Blaine explained.

“That is just the tip of the gay iceberg I'm afraid. Don't dig too deep there, Blaine, or what you might find could be emotionally scarring. Or give my poor laptop a ton of viruses... I should do a scan when you're done...” Kurt warned.

Blaine raised his hands in surrender and handed the computer back to Kurt so he could run the desired scans. His attempts to put aside the racy dream he'd experienced last night were going well but when they were sitting on the very bed where the dream had taken place. Blaine felt a little nervous. Fortunately Kurt was too preoccupied with his computer to notice. “I think I've learned enough for the time being anyway,” Blaine admitted sheepishly.

“Whenever you're ready for more I can show you...” Kurt began to offer, until he realized what that comment sounded like and he got very flustered. “By showing you a good website to look at, god!” he groaned.

Blaine chose to show pity (since he could relate) by ignoring the nearly embarrassing remark. “I am still astounded that information like this is even out there. Back in my own time if I had to face the idea of having intimate relations with a young man from the little I know... I'd feel very nervous to say the very least.”

“Sex education for any young person, no matter who they want to get physical with, is a must. Especially now, when the risk of sexually transmitted diseases is at such a high...” Kurt said.

Blaine nodded in agreement; the fact that he could talk seriously about sex with a boy his age was amazing enough. “You know... I am not used to being able to share so much of myself like this, with anyone.”

“Me either, it's a nice change.”

“That it is... wait... what is that sound I'm hearing?” Blaine asked.

Kurt heard it too and he instantly recognized his ring-tone chosen for incoming unknown calls on his cellphone. “It's Avery!”

Finally, some form of contact from his great nephew four times over. Two days without any word had been hard enough to endure. “It is about time!” Blaine grumbled.

“Blaine, be nice... he gave you your journal back. I'm going to answer now. Avery! It's so good of you to call...” Kurt began, quickly putting his phone on speaker.

“Oh Kurt, I missed hearing that angelic sounding voice of yours. Did you miss me?” Avery said in his usual smooth talking way.

“Please tell me you have good news...” Kurt pleaded, not willing to flirt this time, since there were bigger things to focus on.

“I have news, whether it's good or not has yet to be determined. I'm basically calling to touch base and to show I haven't forgotten you guys. The spells under study as we speak but from what I've been told... it's gonna take a bit longer until any answers are given,” Avery explained.

This was not the news Kurt was hoping to hear, time was running out. “Define what 'a little longer' means exactly here. Are we talking days? Weeks? Months? Because my dad gave us a week before he'd contact the authorities. Which is almost up, it's already Friday night!”

“Then you'd better ask for an extension and stat. I can't seem too pushy or these mages I've hired might get suspicious. I'm acting like this is just me wanting Blaine's mystery finally solved. So unless you're willing to reveal the fact that Blaine's ended up in the future, we'll have to wait this out,” Avery warned.

Blaine, who was able to hear the whole phone conversation from his spot next to Kurt, let out a tired sigh. “Avery, I am sorry to admit, is quite right... we have no choice but to be patient.”

“I'm not arguing that, it's just... waiting sucks!” Kurt muttered.

“Hey, if Blaine isn't able to entertain you properly I'm more than willing to step up. The invite to see my apartment still stands, Kurt, come on over any time you like. You'll find I can be quite... accommodating to my guests, especially the young and good looking ones.”

The innuendo that came with the invite was so obvious even Blaine realized and he frowned. He had no right to chide his nephew but still, there was a proper time and place. “Would you be so kind not to hit on Kurt when I am within earshot.”

“Fine, go away,” Avery said curtly.

Before Kurt could get a word in and tell him to stop, Blaine got off the bed and was out the door in a huff, leaving Kurt on the phone with an overzealous playboy. “You really gotta rein it in... that's not gonna win me over,” Kurt warned.

“Then tell me what would,” Avery urged.

Oh lord, Avery Anderson sure was a piece of work. Kurt wondered how me might react their meeting went differently how he might react. But this was no time for wondering what could have been, since there was a annoyed Blaine to tend to. “Well for one thing, stop trying to get into my pants.”

“I'm not some prudish gentleman from the Victorian era. If you want that sort of treatment I suggest you go after Blaine... he's right up your Downton Abbey,” Avery suggested playfully.

“Have you forgotten the fact that I'm trying to get him back to 1903?” Kurt snapped.

“Nope, but maybe you should... live a little and go try to get into Blaine's nineteenth century knickers. I'll still be around, willing as ever, to step up when he's good and gone. Show you how the Andersons of the future operate when it comes to sexual conquests.”

Only now did Kurt clue in how much Avery held back when Blaine was around and Kurt felt flustered by how easily he was propositioning him. “Okay I think this conversation's running way too long. Call me when you have some news about the spell okay? Anything else that might happen can wait, Blaine comes first...” he insisted, only for Avery to break out laughing.

“Aren't you nice, in letting him be the first to come... I'll leave you to that then. Have fun now, oh, and use protection!” Avery chimed and ended the call before Kurt could protest.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

The weekend brought a freedom that neither Blaine nor Kurt knew how to handle well. So much had happened in the past five days but at the same time they had made so little progress in certain key areas. There was nothing to be done about getting Blaine back to his rightful time and both teens hated just sitting around. Then there was no forgetting the confusion they felt over what they should or even could be to one another. Kurt still felt obligated to to help Blaine pass the wait, when really he'd want to spend time with Blaine regardless. That was the root of his whole dilemma, one he was unaware Blaine shared and wasn't doing much better with. But two days without any obligations should never be wasted, especially by the young. So Blaine and his fashionable tour-guide set out into the world once more. Kurt outdid himself and took Blaine to a musical production at the local community theatre.

“I'm enjoying my stay with you very much, Kurt, but I do wish there was something I could do to return the favour,” Blaine admitted.

Kurt smiled mischievously at Blaine. “Actually... now that you mention it, there is something you could do for me. Something I'd been wanting to try...”

“You have my attention...” Blaine urged, going along with Kurt's antics.

“Something we can do together and can both enjoy,” Kurt said.  
__________________________________________________________________________

“Get a closer look so you know where your hands should go,” Blaine hissed, keeping his voice low even when the coast was clear.

“Like this?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah, that's good. Okay... now rub them together to really get going...”

“You know... the way this sounds, you think we were doing something way more sexy than a magic lesson,” Kurt pointed out.

The favour Kurt asked of Blaine needed adequate privacy to conduct and for once Kurt's bedroom wasn't enough cover. They ended up finding a secluded enough spot Kurt thought would work because it was the weekend: underneath the bleachers at McKinley. A simple illusion trick was pretty weak when it came to secretly cast spells. If they were caught by anyone, Kurt bet people would think they were getting busy rather than practising magic.

“That's it. You're doing great, Kurt; you have a real knack for this,” Blaine said.

Kurt always knew when it came to his magical talents he could deliver, but hearing Blaine's praise still gave him a head rush. He and Blaine were crouched down close together as Kurt tried to recreate the butterfly spell Blaine had shown off to Avery.

“Okay now say the spell I taught you and let us see what you can do,” Blaine guided.

With palms open Kurt took a few steps back as a safety precaution and repeated what Blaine had just shown him. His voice fell into a half hum when he slowly uttered the spell and a small ball of light formed in his hands. It grew until it was large enough for Kurt to throw it up in the air and both boys watched as it fell back downwards. Kurt caught it at the right moment and clapped his hands together on impact. Always one for flair, Kurt took a deep breath and when he opened his hands three butterflies burst forward, fluttering away and over to dance around Blaine's head and Kurt giggled cutely.

Blaine was quite impressed and clapped lightly at the pretty display over his head. But the show wasn't over yet and the butterflies exploded into miniature fireworks before vanishing. “Wow, Kurt, that was quite the spectacle!”

The pride from Blaine's praise was very infectious and Kurt took a bow in response. “I swear I wasn't trying to upstage you...”

“I think a little healthy competition is a great incentive to excel, when used properly,” Blaine tutted.

“So Blaine, I hope you don't mind me asking, but did you have any plans... over what you would do once you found your soulmate? I know you were ready and willing to throw your life away for love and that's a very romantic notion. But what about your magical talent? It seems to me like you abandoning that would be such a shame...”

Before answering, Blaine stood up and held out his hand to Kurt, who took it and the pair headed topside to come to sit side by side in the second row of bleachers. “From reading my journal it might have seemed like I was going into things blind. But I simply did not write about any of my plans... because there was no telling if they could happen. I did have some thought to what sort of life we could have. It would greatly depend on my soulmate and his own wishes... but I had hoped... that we could open a little cocktail bar, in some foreign location where perhaps we could be more open with our relationship. If such a place could even exist back then, we would dare to find it.”

“So what would go on at this cocktail bar of yours, Blaine?” Kurt pressed.

Blaine smiled bashfully at Kurt, “Ah well... along with good affordable food, at night we'd put on a real good show. Picture singers accompanied by the piano and with a little help from magic, dazzling the audience.”

Of course when Kurt did picture the scenario he wasn't envisioning Blaine with some unknown young man, it was Kurt who was lying on the piano, singing his heart out as Blaine played. “That sounds lovely, Blaine,” he said dreamily.

“But hardly realistic...” Blaine added with a small sigh.

“Oh, you never know... don't give up on that life before you can try. That's not like you at all,” Kurt chided playfully, giving just the right amount of encouragement.

Blaine smiled at Kurt shyly but soon nodded back. “What about you Kurt? What are your dreams for the future?”

Now that was a topic Kurt could really run away with and he felt no need to hold back, “Oh I have plans Blaine, plans which I intend to make a reality. I've already applied to the most illustrious magic school in New York: The New York Academy of the Magical and Dramatic arts, or Nyamada... as its called. It's one of the few schools that offers both musical and theatrical programs... both of which are strong passions of mine. You know, finding the connection between the two might be stalemate, but people are still experimenting with mixing them to make new forms of entertainment. It's a shame you have to go... I'm sure Nyamada would want you in a second if you were to apply.”

“I have to go Kurt. It's the right thing to do,” Blaine said.

Kurt hadn't realized what he was implying and now felt guilty, “I know, sorry. Of course you have to go back. But I'm still going to miss you, Blaine,” Kurt admitted.

“Let's not worry over feeling guilty. I think it's allowed in this instance.”

“Is there any part of you that wishes you could stay here... with me?” Kurt asked, in a moment of bravery.

For once in his life Blaine didn't want to lie, not to himself or especially to Kurt. “Yes,” he admitted softly. “But it's complicated...” he continued but he didn't know what to say next. So Blaine chose to ask Kurt something instead. “Kurt, if you had the chance to go back with me... to 1903... would you?”

Since Blaine had given Kurt his honest answer no matter how difficult, Kurt needed to show his friend the same common courtesy. “I don't know... our situations are different, Blaine, like with our families. But as much as I will miss you... I couldn't leave my dad. I can't be that selfish.”

Even though Blaine had no right to judge Kurt's honest answer it still hurt a little for him to hear. The strong bond that Burt and Kurt shared was one he'd never experienced with his own father. Or with anyone in his family for that matter, not even Cooper. Maybe Kurt's inability to throw his life away for love was the proof that there was no way they could be soulmates. Before he could think more on that possibility he still owed Kurt a proper response. “There is nothing wrong with that Kurt, so please do not feel guilty. You have the focus I lacked... I only followed orders. I used to think that love was the only thing lacking in my life. That once I met my one true love everything else would fall into place. Now I see that is wrong... and selfish of me to think that... it is no one’s job but my own to turn my life around. I need to gain a real sense of direction...” Blaine said softly. “Am I making much sense here?”

Kurt shook his head with a smile, “Not exactly, but I still get what you mean...”

“Good, because I'm done with tough emotional confessions for now,” Blaine replied with a chuckle.

Kurt fully agreed and he tried to think of something less emotional to bring up next and he came up with a good one soon enough. “You know... I am kind of curious how watching a period drama, like Downton Abbey -- though it does happen a couple of decades after your time -- might be like. Care to find out for ourselves?” Kurt admitted.

Blaine nodded eagerly at the suggestion, despite his having no idea what this Downton Abbey even was. “Now that sounds like quite the evening to have.”  
_______________________________________________________________________________

With Sunday came the thing Kurt was dreading the most: facing his dad and asking for a much needed extension on their time limit. During his weekend together with Blaine, Kurt swore Burt was watching them like a hawk. His eyes were everywhere and missed nothing. Whenever the pair shared a laugh or sat close together on the couch in the living room, there was Burt, ever watching. Of course any attempts to call his dad out on his less than discreet actions wouldn't be wise, not when Kurt needed him in a good mood.

While Blaine was busy upstairs listening to music (a favourite pastime of his since coming to the future) the moment came. Kurt didn't get the chance to be the better man this time because Burt ended up beating him to the punch.

“Where's Blaine?” Burt asked as soon as Kurt cleared the stairs.

While Kurt had intended to talk to his dad anyway that didn't mean he didn't still feel nervous now. Kurt couldn't help it, whenever Burt gave him that look he felt like a little kid who was in trouble again. “Upstairs, jamming away to Phil Collins, why?” Kurt answered warily.

“You and I need to have one of our father-son talks outside, come on...” Burt ordered.

Kurt followed his dad out to their backyard to find two kitchen chairs were placed in waiting and he gulped. He took a seat and without any prompting threw a spell up so their conversation wouldn't be overheard. “This is about Blaine I take it?”

“Tomorrow's the due date, Kurt. Did you hope I'd forget it or something?” Burt demanded.

It didn't take much for Kurt to know that now was not the time for back talk. He needed to act mature. “No, I was actually heading to talk to you about that... it's just... Blaine and I are still waiting to hear back from Avery. So I was planning to beg for an extension at least until he calls us,” he explained.

“Okay, that answer sounds reasonable... but then... that makes me wonder why you're acting like Blaine's here to stay?”

“Oh, there's no way either of us could forget Blaine's leaving, Dad, believe me.”

Burt figured it was time to smack some sense into his smitten son, metaphorically speaking of course. “Kurt, what if Blaine can't go back home? Did you guys think about that? Carole's coming back on Tuesday and Finn still thinks Blaine's your freaking pen-pal from France. Don't think that Blaine can keep tagging along with you at school either. You haven't thought this through, Kurt, and that's gotta stop.”

“If the spell worked before then it can again, I'm sure of it. Blaine needs to go back where he belongs.”

“Blaine's already used to staying here with you. He's acting like your boyfriend, Kurt. You let him get too close, I get that he's special... but-”

Kurt was in no mood to to listen to reason. “Pretty soon you'll have nothing to worry about. Blaine will be gone and I'll be back living my boring old life. Sorry for my wanting a little bit of happiness while he's here!” he snapped.

“You have feelings for him, don't you?” Burt asked.

“I dunno! Maybe! Most likely! I mean it's pretty hard not to when it comes to Blaine! But it's not like that will change anything!” Kurt shouted, he was very glad he'd bothered to cast a spell.

“Maybe if you tell him it might?”

“Or it could make things even worse when he still leaves!” Kurt snapped.

Burt already knew by this point how his son had the tendency to get dramatic at times but he got the feeling what Kurt felt for Blaine wasn't a simple crush.

Before Burt could tell Kurt to calm down he managed to on his own, taking a deep breath and it letting out slowly. “I'm sorry I lashed out at you like that. None of this is your fault...”

Burt rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder and shook him lightly. “We've all had a pretty crazy week. You might be the one yelling right now but Blaine's the worst off. He's the one who's totally out of his element and having to deal with a new world. I think the only reason he's holding himself together is cause of you, Kurt,” he said.

His dad was right and Kurt knew getting angry would do little good, so he just slumped back into his chair with a heavy sigh. “I have no idea what I'm doing. There's no manual to follow so there are bound to be screw-ups. But I can't fail Blaine. I owe him, he's given me so much... I have to see that he gets home. I'm not the person he hoped to meet and my wishing I was doesn't change anything. Blaine might not be my soulmate but I think after a hundred and ten years Blaine deserves his own happy ending.”

Burt was glad that Kurt's usual knack for wit was back. “Okay fine, I'll give you more time. But only until you hear back from this Avery guy and not a second more. If it's another dead end then we gotta deal with it. We can't keep hiding Blaine here. If he's stuck here for good then he'll need a life of his own,” he insisted. “But it's not like I'm gonna hand him over to the cops like he's a wanted criminal either.”

Kurt beamed at his dad and gave him a big hug of gratitude. “Thanks dad,” he said, dropping the shield spell. “There's no way I could leave you, not even for love.”

“Kurt, you'll end up leaving the nest either way. I mean, weren't you planning to go to New York for college?”

“Yes but there's a difference between going away for school and leaving for good.”

“It's good to hear you say that. Now go back to Blaine before he comes looking for you.”

Kurt had every intention to but then Blaine suddenly burst through the back door, narrowly avoiding crashing into Kurt in the process. “Kurt!” he shouted.

“Whoa kid, where's the fire?” Burt asked.

Blaine shoved Kurt's iPhone right in his face. “It's Avery! He's... he wants us to come over, straight away! He has the results!” he blurted out, feeling quite out of breath.


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five – Final Chapter

The second meeting between Kurt, Blaine and Avery would end up taking place not at the Anderson manor but at Avery's luxurious apartment in Westerville. No amount of begging made Avery budge from insisting his findings couldn't be told over the phone. All he ended up saying was whatever he'd learned really needed to be said in person. Those weren't the most comforting words for the pair to hear and it made them feel very anxious. As they drove off towards their destination there was no hope in pretending everything was fine and dandy.

“I'm trying to stay on the positive side, but that is not going so well,” Blaine admitted with a sigh.

“You're not the one who has to drive us there, so be thankful for that,” Kurt quipped.

The hour long drive out to where the heir to the Andersons resided was almost sheer agony for the young driver and his passenger. Neither knew what to say to pass the time and any attempts to ignore the impending reveal with idle chatter proved futile as well. Eventually Avery's directions brought them to the correct address, meaning the wait was almost over.

Avery's invited guests were quickly ushered inside by his formidable looking security guard and brought to a room. At first glance there was no sign of Avery, until the boys heard clanking noises and located him at a bar off in the left corner.

“Hi, boys! Thanks for stopping by. I'm just fixing us a drink before we get down to things,” Avery said as he waved a martini glass in the air.

Blaine wasn't sure what to be more alarmed about, the fact that Avery's saying 'get down' held no sexual innuendos or that he thought they'd need a drink to cope. It seemed Kurt had no desire to remain patient for any longer and Blaine watched his friend storm up to the bar. For a second he feared Kurt was about to knock the glass right out Avery's hand but he simply glared at the bartender.

“This is no time to make cocktails! Tell us what you know!” Kurt demanded, throwing his hands up in the air. “Pretty please?” he added desperately.

Avery nodded, though he continued to make a fourth drink and place it on the tray, bringing it over to the table in the middle of the room. “All in good time Kurt -- which is now. Sorry for being so stubborn, but this will be hard enough for me to break to you so I wanted it to be done properly. Have a seat and a drink... you'll need both soon enough.”

Kurt was the first to take a seat, even when it wasn't his fate that was on the line. “Is it that bad? Is that why the results are back so quickly? I thought it would take a few more days.”

“There's a good reason for that, well... more like a bad one...” Avery replied, taking a glass for himself and sipping it lightly.

“Did they find nothing at all then?” Blaine questioned. He couldn't take another dead end.

“No... they found something. Okay, I could keep stalling all day but I'd just mess up so I'll cut to the chase here,” Avery began.

Blaine and Kurt sat down huddled together on Avery's sofa, clutching their hands together for much needed moral support.

“Thank you,” Blaine said with a weak smile.

Once Avery finished his drink he let out a long breath and when his expression turned serious it was an alarming contrast to his usual wry smile. “The reason the results came back early is because the mystery's solved. The short of it is... things didn't happen the way you two thought. Blaine, you weren't sent to the future at all.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? You do see him right?” Kurt interrupted.

“Kurt, let him finish before asking questions,” Blaine chided.

“The mages I hired figured out what the spell did, more or less. Blaine, you were sort of preserved in some kind of magical subspace, kept out of time, where you didn't age... until Kurt's spell brought you back to earth,” Avery finished.

The explanation hardly made much sense and both teens were as confused as they were a moment ago, if not more.

“What does that even mean?” Blaine pressed, needing more information to understand.

“It's just as I said. Blaine's spell trapped him somewhere and kept him safely intact,” Avery explained.

“You mean to say Kurt pulled me out of this magical subspace and brought me here?” Blaine questioned.

Avery nodded in confirmation, “Pretty much yeah. Dunno why or how. Maybe Kurt countered the spell to bring you back... if so, then it's lucky he did or you could have been trapped there forever. In fact, when I asked the mages how you died, they concluded that the spell failed and failed because it wasn't strong enough,” he explained. “If only they knew...” he added with a wink.

Kurt's mind was reeling; he'd expected there might be another dead end to deal with or something, not this. There had to be some way to send Blaine back home. They couldn't give up now. “So now what? How else can we look at sending Blaine back to 1903?”

“Basically … you can't. Blaine didn't travel through time. He cast a spell in the past, was preserved and then you brought him back. Not to the future, but to the present day, only Blaine of course hasn't aged, nor has any memories of his suspension. Time travel is still as impossible as it was in Blaine's day. Who knows if that will ever change, but I doubt it will in our lifetimes,” Avery explained, speaking softly to remain as sympathetic to Blaine's plight as possible.

“So what, that's it then? Blaine has no chance to go home? He's stranded here?” Kurt said in disbelief.

Avery nodded to Kurt and placed a drink in front of Blaine on the table. “I'm afraid so... I doubt it's much a consolation right now but... Blaine, you're lucky to be alive at all. Kurt saved you, so maybe this can be your second chance at life?” he offered thoughtfully.

This outcome wasn't anything Blaine wanted to hear. He kept clinging to the hope that he'd get home somehow. Now that there was no chance of that happening, Blaine fell oddly quiet and his body went slack. Grief stricken and feeling numb, Blaine slipped out of Kurt's embrace and slumped forward on the couch. It served him right not to consider otherwise; nobody could cheat fate like that, not even with the aid of magic. Ignoring the danger was his first mistake, and the second infraction was trying to manipulate his own destiny.

“He's in shock, it's understandable,” Avery said.

Blaine stared at the drink in front of him; he had never been much of a drinker but he'd still partaken now and then. Normally he tried to pace himself properly to avoid getting drunk but right now, Blaine thought he could use a bit of a buzz, so he didn't leisurely sip at his drink. Instead, Blaine ended up chugging down the entire glass.

“Uh, you might wanna watch it there Blaine...” Avery warned.

“You're the one who said I should have a drink,” Blaine countered.

“To help put the edge off, not to get rip-roaring drunk. You can't drink your troubles away... Believe me,” Avery threw back.

Kurt hadn't touched his own drink and he was glad of that now; he was already having a difficult time with how to know what to do for Blaine in this instance. Should he coddle him with empty words of encouragement? What could he even say? 'It will be okay, I'm here...' sounded wrong. “Blaine...” Kurt breathed. Then Blaine took hold of Kurt's drink and that made Kurt more willing to act. “Blaine, Avery's right, you need to be careful...” Kurt said as he tried to take the drink away.

Blaine moved fast enough so Kurt couldn't reach him and ended up spilling some of the drink on his sleeve. Blaine got up from the couch and walked a few steps away, stopping when neither Avery or Kurt came after him. He knew he was acting childish, but it was hard enough not to grab the bottle of vodka on the desk. Blaine took a small drink out of the glass he was still holding and let out a tired sigh, running a hand through his hair. “I just... cannot deal with this yet, I don't know how... I've been such a fool.”

“We've all pulled selfish shit before Blaine, it's how you deal with it afterwards that makes the difference,” Avery commented.

Kurt blinked; he was amazed at how that almost sounded philosophical. “How can we help you, Blaine?” he asked.

“Let me have this second drink and experience a quiet evening to let this all sink in. I'm in a rather shocked state right now... and I'm trying not to shut myself off. I know I cannot run from this but for at least tonight, I want to pretend it isn't happening to me,” he asked.

Kurt heart ached, the vulnerability in Blaine voice was hard for him to hear. Kurt looked over at Avery to get his opinion and the heir merely shrugged. It was was up to Kurt then. “Okay,” he replied softly.

So the three sat down to start their quiet evening and as the night went on Blaine was the only one who ended up drinking. He'd stopped after his second drink and all seemed to being going well but then, Blaine's mood started to lighten a bit too much. Either Blaine wasn't a regular enough drinker to know his limits or he had intentionally misled Kurt and Avery. They discovered two new details pertaining to Blaine: he was crafty, and he was a lightweight. Because Blaine was now obviously drunk, not totally wasted but enough that he was going to regret his actions in the morning.

Kurt would have gotten mad at Blaine but he knew it was pointless. At least he seemed to be a happy drunk. Blaine was currently playing at the piano in the room, singing an old tune like he didn't have a care in the world. But his good mood wouldn't stick around forever because Blaine was already slipping. Kurt noticed Blaine's regretful looks when he let his guard down; it was only for a second but there were becoming more frequent. Kurt felt so worthless, how could let Blaine to get in such a state? “Did you have to make us drinks?” Kurt hissed at Avery.

The twenty-six-year old gave Kurt a sassy shrug this time. “I thought it would help. I didn't think Blaine would drink enough to get drunk. He totally played us... I'm impressed...” he admitted.

“This isn't how I thought Blaine would react...” Kurt began.

“Me either... I thought he'd take it way better. I mean... he'll get to stay with you now.”

Kurt was in no mood to allow his to feelings take over. That would lead to unnecessary self-loathing, something he couldn't afford to deal with right now. He had Blaine to look after and there would be no send-off where Kurt's responsibilities would abruptly end. Romance was the furthest thing from Kurt's mind and he didn't have the excuse of drunkenness to act off his rocker either. “I don't know how to make him better...”

Avery never got a chance to reply. Blaine (his song finished) made his way back and flopped down on the couch beside Kurt. Blaine looked cheerful, too cheerful and the smile on his face was obviously forced. “Oh well, I should have known, stupid sod than I am. Like you could cast a spell to find your soulmate! Hah!” he laughed.

“You took a shot, I always thought you were pretty brave to try, specially back then,” Avery admitted.

“Me too,” Kurt added.

Avery’s and Kurt's kind comments did nothing to bring Blaine around; instead he let out a loud raspberry, never sounding so crude before. “Don't try to coddle me! I've been acting like an entitled spoiled brat! Not only did the spell not work, I caused my family pain! Who knows what came of Grace? And I let the once famous Anderson family fall to ruin. All thanks to my stupid quest for love and soulmates!”

“Hey! That almost hurt. Do I look ruined to you?” Avery said with mock hurt.

“It's not like anyone in your family were saints, Blaine. You told me how distant they all were and how they didn't try to know the real you. What do you honestly think would have happened if you were a good little boy and married Grace?” Kurt argued, getting fed up with the whole scenario.

“Oh I would have muddled along, most men in my social class rarely married for love. Why should I be any different? I would have gone to magic academy, made a name for myself... had a family of my very own...”

“... and had a wife you couldn’t love? You're too much of a romantic to settle for that Blaine. You wouldn't be truly happy...” Kurt said.

Blaine spun around to point at Kurt much like Cooper did whenever he got worked up or drunk. “How would you know? Don't think that you reading my journal means you have any idea what I'm going through! Or how I feel! You don't know a god damn thing!” he snapped.

Blaine's outburst stung and Kurt's face scrunched up from his attempts to fight back tears. Not even the cruellest bully had brought on this much pain. Kurt needed a momentary escape, getting up from the couch and away from Blaine. “I need to call my dad...” he stuttered, ignoring Blaine and looking at Avery. “I promised I'd fill in him and it's getting late... I'll uh... be back...” Kurt continued, pausing to glare at Blaine as their eyes met. “... eventually,” he said coldly and hurried out into the hall.

Avery rolled his eyes; he'd forgotten how dramatic teenagers could be, which is why he rarely bothered with them. “Nice going, Blaine.”

Blaine looked truly bewildered and he stormed off towards the bar, “Pah, he's being too over sensitive.”

“Wow, you're a really mean drunk...” Avery said. When Blaine was about to raid Avery's impressive liquor stash he raced towards his drunk great uncle. “Oh no, you're cut off and I'm making you some coffee!” Avery announced. Too bad he'd given his staff the night off and was forced to do it himself.

Blaine stepped up to the bar, placing his chin on the counter and letting out a troubled sigh. He glanced up at Avery with tired eyes, seeking any condolence his great nephew might be willing to give him. “I suppose that was wrong of me...” he finally admitted.

“You think? You’d better apologize when he comes back and you've sobered up a little!” Avery warned.

Meanwhile Kurt stopped at a what he thought was a safe enough distance down the hall to call his dad. Before dialling Kurt paused to see if Blaine was coming to apologize but there was no sign of him.That stung a little but Kurt told himself it would be better if Blaine tried when he was in a better state. If Kurt considered Blaine's situation and how he'd resorted to intoxication to cope, Kurt needed to cut the displaced young man some slack. What hurt the most was that Blaine didn't even acknowledge that staying in the future (now technically the present) meant they wouldn't have to say goodbye.

“About freaking time, Kurt,” Burt's less than amused voice trailed through the speaker.

“Sorry... I wish I had good news but... yeah... it's bad I'm afraid,” Kurt began.

“Is Blaine gone?” Burt questioned.

Was everyone he knew not making sense anymore? “No! Didn't you hear me? I said I didn't have good news,” Kurt said.

“Well then, before you get lippy start filling me in.”

“Blaine can't go back. He never even travelled into the future in the first place... there's nothing to be done,” Kurt said. Of course he elaborated and repeated everything Avery had told him. Here was the more mature reaction Kurt had expected, but from the wrong person.

“That sure sucks... how's Blaine taking it?” Burt asked.

“He's not, he got drunk,” Kurt grumbled.

Burt paused. “You need me to come help bring him back?” he offered.

“No, if it's okay... I think it's better if we stay here at Avery's tonight... Blaine's pretty unstable...” Kurt exaggerated.

“Okay, I'll call in for you tomorrow at school. Focus on looking after Blaine for now. He's gonna need you to get through this, Kurt.”

As usual Burt knew just what to tell his son, and Kurt took his advice straight to his slightly bruised heart. The fact that Burt was letting him miss school so he could help Blaine through his ordeal said a lot. “Thanks dad, I'll do that.” he assured.

During Kurt's time out of the room Avery got two cups of coffee in Blaine and he was a little better off now. Blaine was still overly cheerful and in turn was becoming quite the blabber-mouth and that gave Avery a good idea.

Slowly advancing on his prey, Avery sat down beside Blaine, who made no protests to his close proximity. They looked like fellow drinking buddies after a lazy evening of cocktails. “So Blaine... I'm wondering... now that you're more relaxed. How do you exactly feel about Kurt? You gotta admit he is one tall glass of water.”

“Hmm? Looking at him for long can bring up a thirst,” Blaine agreed.

Now here was the response Avery had been hoping for. “I'm listening, please elaborate,” he coaxed.

Blaine might be drunk but he was too skilled with keeping secrets to let Avery get his way this time. He brought up his pointer finger and waved it side to side in warning, “Ah-ah-ah... not so fast...” he chimed, he'd been aiming to place a finger on Avery's lips, missed and poked him in the nose. “You gotta do better than that to get the best of me. I'm not telling you a thing and there's nothing you can do to drag it out of me. Better give up before you make a fool of yourself,” Blaine warned playfully.

“Oh believe me, if I could use my usual assets, you'd be revealing a lot more than your feelings about Kurt,” Avery threw back.

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Too bad you look too much like my brother to get anywhere with me, because you lack persuasive ability when you can't be seductive."

Avery got up off the couch, brought over a ice bucket and placed it on the floor under Blaine's head. “Fine, I'll give up... but if you end up barfing, you better make sure you do it in that.”  
____________________________________________________________________________

Too bad Blaine hadn't seen the Wizard of Oz yet or when he woke up back in a familiar place he might notice the similarities. Like at the end of the iconic film, Blaine was lying in bed back home and everything he'd experienced recently wasn't a long dream. But then there were neither Auntie Em nor any doppelgangers to be found. So Blaine didn't utter the iconic words 'and you were there, and you, and you...' The first sound Blaine made was a painful moan due to his unpleasant hangover. “Oh, my pounding head...” he groaned.

Before Blaine could think he'd never travelled to the future, Kurt's attractive face came into view, hovering from overhead. “Morning, Blaine,” Kurt said musically.

Blaine blinked; he was so hung over, he felt horrible and groaned as he sat up on the bed to get a better look at his surroundings. Oh, he hadn't been imagining things; everything he saw before him looked like his old room. The space and appearance of the room was the same but a lot of it looked slightly off. “Kurt? Where am I?” he croaked.

Kurt was in a better mood since last night and was fine to comply. “We're in what used to be your bedroom, Blaine,” he explained as he sat down on his chair beside the bed.

That meant, in a sense, Blaine was home. Usually whenever Blaine was under the weather the staff nursed him back to health, but not this time. Blaine noticed the cold compress cloth on his night stand and the bucket at his bedside. Kurt must have kept a bedside vigil and put his own needs aside for Blaine's well-being throughout the night.

“It was Avery's idea to bring you here. He thought it might be good for you to wake up in a familiar place. But I was worried that you might think you've been having a very long dream,” Kurt said cutely.

“I might have, if you weren't here... thank you for staying by my side,” Blaine said softly.

Last night wasn't fun for Kurt and looking after Blaine only got easy once Blaine finally ended up crashing. But seeing his grateful smile renewed Kurt's tired spirits and set his heart a-flutter. He needed to keep things simple for now and focus on Blaine's well-being. Kurt's feelings about Blaine and what they could be would have to wait. They had all the time in the world now, after all. “Hey, that's what friends are for.”

 _'You're so much more than a friend, Kurt,'_ Blaine thought. But just because he was marooned in 2013, didn't mean he could rob Kurt from finding his true match, no more than he could live off Kurt's kindness alone. “Kurt, I am so sorry for my actions last night. Can you ever forgive me?” he pleaded with woeful eyes.

Kurt knew there was no use holding onto any bitterness that still lingered, not with Blaine's big puppy dog eyes. “Of course, Blaine... I mean you were drunk to begin with...”

“That still is no excuse for my actions Kurt, or the horrible things I said to you,” Blaine interrupted.

“You remember those, huh?”

Blaine nodded, wishing he didn't but at least he could deal with them now and apologize, if that would ever be enough. “Yes... I remember how I said you don't know me. Which is such a lie, I think you know me better than anyone... including myself,” he confessed.

Kurt knew he was blushing but he wouldn't let that ruin the tender moment. They both needed it right now.

“Wait, what about school?” Blaine asked suddenly. It was clearly well into the afternoon now.

“Dad called in sick for me, amazingly, so I could look after you.”

“Did you get any sleep at all?” Blaine asked with concern.

“Yes, Avery kept watch for some of the night so I could doze off periodically. He's catching up on sleep right now actually,” Kurt explained.

As much as Blaine wanted to immediately mend the rift between them, Blaine's splitting head was making it hard to think straight. Blaine needed more recovery time before he could give his best to make amends with Kurt.

Kurt watched as Blaine massaged the sides of his temples, groaning away when it didn't seem to be doing much good. Blaine slumped back down on the bed and pulled the covers up over his head to hide from the light and the world. Kurt shook his head, he took the glass of water and painkiller pills from the night stand. Then Kurt pried the blanket off of Blaine's head and held out his gifts for his friend to take. “Here, take these... experience the joys of modern medicine.”

Blaine took the generous peace offering, swallowing each pill down willingly. “So... are we alright?”

“Not quite... but we will be... with time,” Kurt replied.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

When the chance for Blaine to redeem himself from his drunken foolishness arrived he never acted on it. He might have fully recovered from his intoxication but the emotional strain was still there, eating away on the inside. So all Blaine managed to do was utter a quick apology and Kurt hadn't pressed him further.

Their resistance was for a number of reasons, none of which Kurt or Blaine knew how to face. Their innermost doubts and fears kept getting in their way and so the clueless twosome chose to resort back to an old fail-safe: avoidance. Stalling in such a way was hardly mature but they were still teenagers after all.

When Kurt expressed he wanted to quickly go back home to get a change of clothes Blaine made no protests. A little solitude could give him the time needed to figure out what his next move would be. Only where to begin?

Kurt returned an hour later to find Blaine in the manor's sitting room looking like he was an extra actor hired for tours. But Blaine wasn't a mere look-alike, he was the real deal and Kurt needed to face that fact. “There you are. You know... you look right at home.”

Blaine glanced up from the iPad Avery had gifted him and gave Kurt a friendly smile. “I actually feel very out of place. I think it's because I know that this is no longer my home... or at least not the one I once lived in.”

“Anyone can feel like that Blaine. I sure have...” Kurt began.

“I know, and I shouldn't let myself wallow in misery, but I have no idea what to do about my life now.”

“Again, you're not the only one to feel lost.”

Blaine stood up from the couch and started to pace back and forth, trying to keep from getting cross with Kurt. He was more angrier at himself and his whole situation rather than his friend’s counter remarks. For once Blaine needed to look past the idea that romance solved everything and get his life together. “What the hell am I supposed to do now, Kurt? How am I supposed to just slip into society when I have no records of any personal identity I can use? How can I find myself when I am so lost I'm past the point of no return!” he grumbled.

“I don't know... I wish I did. I want to help you so bad Blaine, but I've got nothing,” Kurt admitted with regret.

Blaine felt tired and dizzy so he stopped his pacing, walked over to where Kurt was standing and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It's not your job to look after me. I need to do this on my own...” he said.

“Fine, but don't you dare try to push me away in the process,” Kurt warned.

“Never,” Blaine replied, his voice slightly teasing.

Kurt didn't laugh at Blaine's attempt at humour since the risk that Blaine would take everything on his own was very real. Kurt wasn't sure if there was anything he could do to help Blaine's plight but he still wished Blaine could still rely on him a little. “Come on, let's head back to base so we can put our heads together and see what ideas we might come up with...” Kurt said, patting Blaine on the back and coaxing him to move.

Blaine kept his feet firmly planted on the floor, despite Kurt's gentle urging. “Kurt... I can't stay with you forever...” he warned.

Kurt knew that better than anyone; in fact he'd talked to his dad about it at length already. Whether it was actually his fault or not, Kurt still stubbornly wanted to help Blaine adapt to his stranded fate. He might have saved Blaine from a fate worse than death but there were his own concerns to consider as well. Deep down Kurt was happy that Blaine wouldn't have to go and he was worried that it made him a horrible person. “I know... but there's nothing wrong in staying for a little while longer. At least until you get back on your feet,” Kurt insisted.

“Okay,” Blaine relented. Blaine already knew he felt more at home at Kurt's house than his own and he didn't mean just in the present.  
______________________________________________________________________

Somehow the fact that the Hummels had an extended guest who was from the year 1903 wasn't so unbelievable anymore. No one knew this better than the head of the household and Burt watched the days go by with conflicting emotions. He didn't mind Blaine sticking around for a bit longer as he tried to figure his life out; he was a good kid who was more than willing to pull his weight and around and lend a hand. It was hard to believe he'd never lifted a finger to do any chores before. Blaine no longer joined Kurt for his classes and spent their time apart puttering around the house. When Carole came home to a spotless house and an extra teenage boy there was a lot of explaining to do. She ended up taking the truth rather well but now that was the least of Burt's worries.

Right when Kurt should have snapped into action to help Blaine along, he was doing the opposite and letting his friend remain in limbo. They seemed to have some strange co-dependant routine going on now. Every day Kurt and Blaine would have breakfast together and when Kurt got back from school the two would become inseparable right until bedtime. Sometimes Blaine would end up sneaking into glee club too; they sure seemed to be living the life.

But none of this would help Blaine's ordeal and Kurt wasn't any better off, hence Burt's growing concern. Before Blaine's arrival Kurt couldn't shut up about wanting to go to New York. Now there was nothing, not so much as a peep, and Kurt's audition for Nyamada wasn't too far off.

The plan was for Burt to confront them both later on after work on Thursday but he'd absentmindedly headed off without the keys to the shop that morning. Burt returned home to quickly grab them but when he passed by Kurt's room he did a double take. Had he seen that right? To investigate, Burt walked right into Kurt's room without warning. Yep, he had, there was Blaine writing a letter at Kurt's desk. Burt had a funny feeling he knew exactly what was going on. “You planning on running again, Blaine?” Burt asked suddenly.

Blaine let out a startled shout and whirled around to find Burt Hummel staring at him, looking just like Kurt when he was pissed off. “Mr. Hummel!” Blaine sputtered as he quickly tried to hide what he had been writing, to no avail. “This isn't-” he began but was cut off when Burt snatched the paper off the desk with a firm grab. He very much wanted to run off instead of watching in agony as Burt read his letter.

“Really? Cause this sure sounds like a goodbye note to me,” Burt challenged.

Trapped with no place to go (again) Blaine had no alternative but to explain his actions. “I'm not really trying to run and certainly not from Kurt. It's just... I can't stay here anymore. I've remained for long enough and I need to go before I wear out my welcome altogether. I did nothing to earn this life and I cannot live on charity forever.”

“You might call it charity but I'd say it's my son wanting to help a friend,” Burt interjected.

Blaine wasn't in the most argumentative mood but he still felt the need to justify his rash actions. “I am growing far too secure and it feels like I am hiding from my responsibilities. I am truly grateful for all Kurt has done for me... But I've let this go on for far too long as it is, I cannot let myself feel too sheltered. When I am with Kurt all I want to do is stay at his side and do nothing else. That is no way for anyone to live, Kurt can't be my whole world,” he tried to explain, struggling with his wording.

“You can start a new life and keep Kurt around you know.”

“Forgive me, Mr. Hummel,” Blaine nearly snapped. Normally he never would act so forward but he was fed up with counter remarks for once. “The only reason I came here at all is because I made a foolish mistake. It is fine time for me to grow up and think about someone besides myself. Kurt's stopped talking about New York...” Blaine said, leaving out how Kurt had also turned a cute guy down yesterday. What if he'd been Kurt's soulmate? Could Blaine live with himself if sticking around meant Kurt would miss out on so much?

It seemed that no matter what year they were born in, teenagers still could be a real piece of work to figure out. It was time for one of Burt Hummel's special talks, since they usually tended to do the trick. “Okay Blaine, before you try to bolt, you and I are gonna sit down and have a long talk.”

Blaine was used to doing what what adults told him and he was done with trying to rebel. So he gave into his fate, took a seat at the kitchen table and waited for the lecture he was sure would come next.

“I was planning to talk to Kurt first but you'll do. Because if it's reached the point where you were planning to run off-”

“I wasn't going to run!” Blaine interrupted on impulse. “Sorry, it's just... I need to make that clear. Avery offered to put me up at his place; he has the room so I decided to accept. I thought perhaps if Kurt and I put some distance between us it would be for the better. We are becoming far too attached for our own good. Whenever Kurt meets his perfect match, I want to be able to let him go.”

“You really don't see it, do you?” Burt asked in amazement.

“See what?” Blaine asked, proving he had no idea what Burt was getting at.

Burt didn't know if he should laugh or groan at Blaine’s cluelessness, so he just chuckled while shaking his head. “Get ready for me to rock your world Blaine, cause what I gotta say is something you need to hear.”

“Then by all means, please enlighten me!” Blaine said.

“The way I see it, that spell of yours ended up working,” Burt declared.

Blaine was so removed from the possibility that all he could do was to burst out laughing, until Burt gave him a icy stare that put the teen in his place. “Are you saying that the spell suspended me in time on purpose? Whatever for?” Blaine asked but when Burt didn't give any answer he was left to find it on his own. “I don't see how trapping me in some sort of magical subspace was the spell working. Unless it was keeping me alive until Kurt was able to bring me back in the present....” Blaine continued. Only as he spoke each word he slowly started to clue in and his look hardened. “Hold on... do you think... Kurt and I are... soulmates then?”

“Yep,” Burt confirmed. Burt wouldn't have gone that far but this was no time to nitpick over his disbelief in the idea of soulmates.

The sudden epiphany bowled Blaine over like he'd been hit by a semi truck, sending him tumbling out of his chair. Blaine's was too preoccupied to care about his less than graceful landing. 

Burt leaned over to see if Blaine was unhurt. “You okay okay there, Blaine?” he called out.

Blaine was way better than okay; he was exuberant with new-found joy. Blaine jumped up from the floor, nearly bursting at the seams and grinning from ear to ear. “It's Kurt... he's the one! It's been him all along... I was just too blind to see it!” he stuttered in amazement. Blaine leaped onto his chair in his happiness. “I'm in love with Kurt!” he shouted merrily.

“Get down before you fall on your ass again,” Burt chided, like Blaine was a hyperactive toddler.

Blaine realized he was acting a bit too overzealous, gave Burt a sheepish look and scrambled back down to sit like the gentleman he normally was. It was hard for him to maintain his composure, and even though he managed to some degree, his beaming smile remained. “Why didn't I see it before? It makes complete sense, my god!”

Would it always be Burt's job to bring the teens in his life back down to reality, he wondered. “I know this is big for you Blaine, but remember what happened the last time you were so hung up on love? Yeah, the spell worked, but not in the most ideal way. There's an old saying: be careful what you wish for. You and Kurt were born in totally different centuries... so nothing's been easy on you guys.”

Blaine nodded. “I cannot say what Kurt has been going through but for me... I was so fixated on how we couldn't be soulmates. My arrival was nothing more than a mishap and I didn't think love could transcend such a long span of years. I wanted to experience the type of love that only happens once in a life time. I kept telling myself that I had no right to feel that way about Kurt. There was someone waiting out there for him, who was from this time and would fit easier into his life.”

“I know the idea of soulmates sure sounds nice. But you can't think what's keeping you together is something like fate or destiny. Relationships are a lot of work. I've loved more than one woman, Blaine, two I ended up marrying. Kurt's mom was it for me. When I lost her I didn't think I'd find someone else but then I met Carole. If Kurt's mom was my soulmate then what does that make her? You don't have to answer that... but do you get what I'm saying?” Burt asked.

There was no rule that people had to believe in the same thing and Blaine admitted Burt had many valid points. This was the first time Blaine found himself talking to an adult who wasn't treating him like a child. “I do; thank you, Mr. Hummel. I still have a lot to learn. Not just about the time period but about love, life and how to live...”

Burt let out a long breath of relief. Finally somebody was thinking straight, so that just left the other culprit. “Good,” he said.

Burt and Blaine talked for a bit longer about the many issues Blaine would now have to face. Would he have to come up with a whole new identity now? How many lies would need to be fabricated before he'd start to feel secure enough to move forward? After a while they came back to the whole conundrum of figuring out how to bring Kurt up to date with the news of the day.

“Man, I kinda wish you had run off and left Kurt that note now. It would be a good way to rile him up enough to admit his feelings. When push comes to shove he usually delivers...”

Blaine shuddered at the very idea. “Do you truly think Kurt feels the same way for me then?” he asked instead.

“Don't need to think about, I already know he does.”

Now the old time gentleman in Blaine snapped back into action, forgetting that he was in the year 2013 and how courtship rituals were vastly different. “Sir... I assure my intentions with your son are serious... once I make my feelings known I'll-” Blaine began but was cut off by Burt waving his hands up in protest.

“You better not be asking for Kurt's hand in marriage; this isn't 1903. You're way too young to be thinking about that, even if it's legal in thirteen states now. You should take things slow, there's no need to rush anymore. Tell him how you feel first and then maybe give dating a try,” Burt said.

Blaine wanted to take his time when it came to the matters of the heart and he was through with jumping head first without any caution. “Right, that just leaves how to tell Kurt... I suppose leaving a note in this case wouldn't actually be wise?”

“If Kurt came home to find a written note and you not here, saying he'd be pissed is a real understatement.”

A switch clicked on in Blaine's brain and he smiled deviously at Burt. “Now that's an idea...”  
____________________________________________________________________________

“Blaine! You'll never guess what happened at glee club today!” Kurt shouted as he burst through the front door. “The weekly assignment is to sing a duet and when I asked Mr. Schue if I could do it with you he said yes! So you better get ready to spend the rest of the day song searching, Mr. Duet partner!” Kurt chimed. Only there was no usual Blaine rushing over to greet him. _'Where could he be?'_ Kurt wondered. “Blaine?” he called out. Nothing. There was no sign of Blaine and he didn't even call back in response.

Kurt went searching for his missing friend and when he arrived at his bedroom he found it empty. It wasn't like Blaine to leave without a trace anymore. It was true Blaine wasn't chained to the house but he was never one to wander far and not without any word. Kurt found the first clue to his whereabouts when he noticed a flash of purple as he scanned past his bed. Kurt hurried over to discover Blaine's wedding suit was laid out. It wasn't the only thing out of place; on top of the clothes were Blaine's journal and a sealed envelope.

“He's gone, Kurt,” Burt's voice said from behind.

“Gone? Gone where? Why would he leave?”

“You tell me. You probably have a better idea where he went and why.”

The likelihood of Blaine running off and leaving a note as his final goodbye was nothing Kurt wanted to face but he had no other choice. Before he'd turn to his usual dramatics Kurt knew he didn't have enough information to go on yet. “Guess there's only one way to find out,” he grumbled as he grabbed the letter and tore it open.

_Dearest Kurt,_

_You are surely wondering where I am by now. I am so sorry but I really have no choice but to leave you. We are growing too close, far closer than friends should be. I cannot seem to remember how you are not mine to treasure. It is about time I take matters into my own hands; right now my life is not yet my own. Meeting you was the most wonderful gift and I shall never forget our time together. If I am to have any hope in finding myself then I must take my leave. I hope my cowardly actions will not make you think ill of me. I am sure we shall meet again, someday._

_Until then_  
Yours sincerely  
Blaine Devon Anderson 

Those poetic words might sound pretty but Kurt wasn't touched, he was downright infuriated by Blaine's nerve. How could he think this was an appropriate way for them to say goodbye, it was so impersonal. It almost felt like Blaine thought their time together amounted to nothing. “Blaine is a complete idiot! Why does he think we can't have a future together? How can he think there could be anyone who's better for me than him?” Kurt shouted angrily.

“Probably cause he has no idea how you feel about him,” Burt countered.

“Not now, dad...” Kurt grumbled.

“Hey, all I'm doing is stating the obvious here, don't go whining to me about it. Far as I see it, you two brought this on yourselves. Blaine chose flight and right now... you're going with fight. But you're barking up the wrong tree, Kurt. I'm not the one you should be getting snarky at.”

While it was true Kurt used anger as an outlet whenever necessary, he knew it was a bad call in this instance and he simmered down.“Sorry, I don't have the time to say how right you are dad... I've got a gentleman to track down!” Kurt grumbled with determination.  
__________________________________________________________________________

The Anderson manor was far livelier than usual, since there was a tour currently taking place with more than a dozen people in tow (an impressive number). If only those inquisitive tourists inside the main house knew about the young man now walking around the grounds. If anyone did notice him then they didn't look long enough to notice his resemblance to the locally famous Blaine Anderson.

But Kurt wasn't just anyone. He knew exactly where to look and soon located Blaine's inconspicuous figure. Kurt silently approached a lovely little spot beside the gardens and found Blaine sitting on a wooden swing hung from a large spruce tree.

Blaine wasn't bothering to move on the swing, so in the calm serenity he easily heard the sound of nearing footsteps. He pushed off the ground and started to swing away, never once looking up to greet the boy before him. “I knew you'd know where to find me...” he began, finally looking up. “... Kurt,” he finished with a warm gaze.

Kurt kept himself at a safe enough distance from Blaine so he was out of his strike zone, eyes darting back and forth as he watched Blaine's swinging frame. Kurt shook his head with mild amusement; Blaine had come full circle and he now looked in tune with the time but not the place. “Well, I know from your journal that this is your favourite place to be,” he said, while holding out the journal. “At least when you want to be left alone to think and can't go too far.”

“But this time I came here not to be alone. I was waiting for you Kurt,” he explained.

The confession sure threw a monkey wrench in Kurt's whole 'getting angry at Blaine’ plan and there was no time to regroup. Kurt got an annoyed thought that would quickly flare his tempter back up if correct. “Wait, was this some sort of test?”

For once Blaine didn't panic over the idea of offending someone and his smile grew cheekier. Blaine dug his heels into the ground to bring his swinging to a stop and jumped off at the right moment to manage a graceful landing. Blaine knew that love wasn't a quick fix and he still had a lot to learn but he was ready to face every challenge. “Yes, but if it makes you feel any better, you passed with flying colours,” he admitted.

“Not cute Blaine,” Kurt warned with narrowed eyes.

Oh how Blaine wished he had the time to prove to Kurt how cute he could be, but that would have to wait. Right now there was the whole matter of confessing his undying love for Kurt. “I guess I'm still not used to expressing my feelings...” he began.

Kurt wasn't tense because he swore whatever Blaine was hinting at meant something wonderful was about to happen. Kurt was more than willing to use their usual talents for banter to create the romantic atmosphere required. “Why not use an old fail safe then?” he suggested as he held out Blaine's journal in offering.

At first Blaine acted like he was going with Kurt's advice as he took the journal from Kurt's hand, only to toss it on the floor like it was worthless. “I don't want what I'm used to... not anymore. What I want Kurt, more than anything... is you,” he breathed and then kissed him.

Kurt had wanted the kiss to happen as much as Blaine did so he fully gave into the sensation and melted into Blaine's embrace. The kiss was neither chaste nor short, in fact it would have been thought downright obscene in Blaine's day. But there was nothing that would make the pair break apart and act more restrained. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulders and on a whim got a little bolder, opening Blaine's mouth with his own. Blaine caught on quick, went with the change and he held onto Kurt's waist as they kissed. Here was the first kiss both boys longed to experience and the moment was like a true celebration of love. But all good things must come to an end, and it ended before the need for air might make them choke. Blaine and Kurt felt like they were so high on love that nothing would bring them down again.

Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he looked straight into Blaine's soft brown eyes. “I love you, Blaine. I think I always have,” he whispered.

“Halleluiah!” Blaine cheered. To truly celebrate the occasion Blaine went so far as to dip Kurt backwards and land a big loving kiss on his inviting mouth. He held steadily onto Kurt's waist to keep them from toppling over and then focused on exploring Kurt's soft lips with his own. Blaine pulled them both up into a standing position and made a little 'mwah' sound at the end of the kiss. “How's that then?” he asked with cheeky delight.

Kurt beamed back at Blaine, his head was still spinning from that tantalizing second kiss. “Wow...” he wheezed.

“Sure feels magical huh?” Blaine teased.

“I don't care how we ended up together. I want to be with you, Blaine. Time doesn't have anything on us,” Kurt said.

Blaine had always wished when he said such romantic words it would actually mean something and now it did. For once Blaine was the one in the know and that almost felt oddly satisfying. Before getting to the next part Blaine took Kurt's hand in his and led them to sit beside him on the nearby swing. “Kurt, the spell worked.”

Kurt nearly ended up falling off the swing save for Blaine's quick reflexes, mirroring Blaine's reaction to the same news. “Explain,” he urged, needing more information.

Blaine was happy to elaborate, “The spell worked exactly like it was so supposed to, Kurt. I was brought here so we could meet and fall in love. It was all meant to happen...”

Kurt went wide eyed when he finally caught on, “Oh my god, you're right!” he shouted. Whenever Kurt was passionate about something it didn't take long for him to get excited and this time it was no different. “I mean, think about it Blaine, really think... the type of love you wanted wouldn't have been possible back then. At least not completely, and not without the fear of negative repercussions. So I think when you poured your heart into the spell you didn't know how far it would end up taking you...” Kurt rambled.

Blaine nodded in agreement; Kurt was so cute when he got flustered. “I certainly never thought my soulmate would be waiting for me in the year 2013. Which is the reason why at first I tried to convince myself otherwise.”

“Shows what we know then. Nice spell Blaine.”

“Ah well, any credibility on my part is lost when none of it was on purpose. But I certainly have no reason to complain because it brought me to you. The spell worked beyond my wildest dreams, Kurt. I know nothing will be easy for me from now on. But the past no longer matters and I'm not so worried about the future anymore. I'm ready to live in the present... with you,” he finished, pulling Kurt into his arms.

Kurt smiled back and finally got his chance to initiate a kiss between them. Kissing Blaine felt like heaven on earth. “I'm ready, willing and able to start our lives together. I want to help you adapt to this new world you find yourself in... it might be challenging, but I think we'll manage.”

There would be plenty to overcome, such as Blaine's lack of personal records, but with Kurt at his side he didn't felt so overwhelmed. Blaine was done with looking to magic to turn his life around. All he wanted now was to do things the old fashioned way. “Oh, I believe so,” he agreed.

“So, is this the part when you get down on one knee and ask for my hand in marriage?” Kurt teased.

Blaine laughed, “Actually... I nearly asked for your father's blessing, but be stopped me before I could,” he admitted sheepishly.

It didn't matter how much of a wedding fanatic Kurt was, he knew that getting married so quickly wasn't very sensible. “Wow, that was brave... but people live longer now so there's little need to rush. As much as I love a good wedding, let's hold off on any nuptials for now,” he suggested.

“Your father suggested we give dating a try first.”

Eyes twinkling, Kurt jumped off the swing and bent down on one knee in front of Blaine. “Blaine Devon Anderson, will you do me the honour of becoming my boyfriend?” he asked.

There might not be a ring to go with the request but Blaine still got the proposal he wished would happen right on this very spot. Blaine couldn’t care less if they weren't getting engaged just yet; that day would come. Blaine managed to hold himself together so he didn't tackle Kurt to the ground and merely got off the swing. Blaine pulled Kurt back up into a standing position, cupping the side of his face lovingly. “Kurt, of course I-”

“Shh!” Kurt hissed, cutting Blaine's answer mid-word.

Before Blaine could protest the interruption he heard the reason for Kurt's shushing him. A crowd of people were nearing the teens and they started to panic. They were acting like two young lovers caught together back over a century ago. Luckily the actual situation was far less troubling and easily dealt with.

“It's a tour,” Blaine whispered to Kurt.

The new couple (pending Blaine's yes) scurried away from the swing and off towards a group of trees for cover. There might not be any real danger in being discovered but Blaine's appearance could still pose a problem. Or at least cause enough of a stir to delay the continuation of their getting together and neither wanted that. Blaine and Kurt bided their time and held their breaths as the tour-guide's speech trailed their way.

“Now here is a very special spot for the Anderson family, one that's become quite a place of tradition over the years. This swing is the iconic setting where countless Anderson men have proposed marriage to lucky young women,” the tour guide explained.

“Cooper didn't, he never got the chance. He made it half-way there and got impatient,” Blaine whispered to Kurt.

“Why wasn't Cooper betrothed at a young age like you were?”

“He was, but he fell so much in love with Lora that he still wanted to officially propose to her. I never bothered with Grace...” Blaine admitted.

The wait for their unwanted guests to leave was brutal and as soon as the coast was clear, Blaine got right back on track. “Now, where were we... right, I still need to give you my answer,” he sassed. But before he could get out of hand Blaine saw Kurt's stern look and he was quick to behave. Blaine took Kurt's hands in his own and there were now hearts in his eyes. “Kurt, it would be my honour to be your boyfriend... and one day, your lawfully wedded husband.”

“Good, I love a man who knows what he wants,” Kurt said playfully.

Blaine laughed with joy as Kurt hugged him and he relished in the fact that thanks to magic, music and a lot of luck, he'd found his soulmate in the end. The connection Kurt and Blaine shared was so strong it took a hundred and ten years for it to bloom. There would be no hiding their love in the shadows and away from public eye. The world held so much promise and no matter what setbacks came their way, nothing could keep them apart.

Kurt brushed the last leaf from Blaine's wavy locks before he couldn't take it anymore and kissed him, who kept coming back for more. Each urgent kiss was enjoyed and treasured and many a giddy laugh was shared in between.

“I feel like I'm falling under a spell...” Kurt breathed.

Blaine smiled at Kurt's comment and decided to use a bit of magic for flair and uttered a quick spell. As Kurt's back was further pressed against the tree trunk they were standing under, he barely noticed the pretty display. Miniature fireworks shot forward and erupted in to little specks of coloured light around the lip locked pair. Kurt laughed but didn't say anything about them; the newly made boyfriends were too focused on each other and their lips.

When the two finally took a short break they refused to let go, keeping close and enjoying the new-found intimacy. There would be no parents to decide how their relationship would progress, since it was up to them.

Blaine knew Kurt would never make up for all that he'd lost but he didn't need to. Love wasn't an easy fix and finding your soulmate didn't ensure a happy ending. Blaine didn't need to peek ahead into the future to know his life would include Kurt no matter what.

“And the future never looked so bright!” Blaine cheered.  
___________________________________________________________________________

Of course Kurt and Blaine confessing their love didn't make the circumstances of finding one another any less miraculous, and there were many loose ends to tie up in consequence. It was time to throw off the guise of Blair (the vising pen-pal from Paris) and that wasn't too difficult for Blaine to do. Blaine now had a new identity which was closer to the truth and easier to live with. Enter Blaine, an unknown member of the Anderson line who resulted from infidelity many years ago. He was named of course after the missing youth he looked exactly like. Blaine's desire to find his estranged family in Ohio led him to the internet where he met Kurt online. At Kurt's offer to help, Blaine had travelled to Lima in the hopes of meeting Avery. To Blaine's delight the young heir had not only agreed to see him but accepted Blaine with open arms and allowed him to use the Anderson surname. A sure fire new identity that hopefully wouldn't amount to any drama.

Blaine was confident every remaining detail about his new life would be addressed and figured out in the correct order.

Right now Kurt was looking forward to getting to do something he'd never done before: sing a romantic duet in glee club with his boyfriend. As soon as the last class of the day was over Kurt found Blaine waiting for him at his locker.

Blaine watched Kurt flirtatiously make his way over and gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the lips in greeting. What seemed like such a little amount of PDA was actually very bold to pull in the middle of school and Blaine let that fact sink in. This was final motivation he needed to tell Kurt about his newly made plans for the future.

“Right on time, honey,” Kurt chimed.

“Punctuality is still a must for me,” Blaine scoffed.

Kurt chuckled at Blaine's joke but as they stood together arm in arm he noticed Blaine was slightly nervous. “What's on your mind, Blaine?”

Blaine’s smile held true affection; Kurt always seemed to know exactly when he was having difficulty with expressing his inner thoughts.

Already his new boyfriend was not only helping Blaine become more modern, he was also a pro with encouragement. “Well... since you asked so nicely, as you know, I've been pondering what to do with my life quite a lot. You've give me the space and time needed to think on my own but the wait is now over,” he explained.

“I'm all ears Blaine,” Kurt said.

“Thanks to Avery I now have enough fabricated records to take my place as an official member of society. Of course there’s still my lack of a modern education and how I clearly have a lot of catching up to do. I am nowhere near college level yet, at least when it comes to my scholastic ability. When it comes to magic I am not so worse off luckily. Avery and I gathered...” Blaine continued, his face softening when he said his nephew’s name. Quite a contrast to when they first met, but Avery was still family and the part about Blaine being welcomed into the family wasn't a lie. “... that it would take roughly two years for me to become eligible to apply at Nyamada. So I shall take classes in New York to reach that point and hopefully my efforts will pay off in the end,” Blaine finished.

Kurt already knew whatever Blaine's plans were they would include him; the first thing Blaine had assured was he would go with Kurt to New York. Not to follow him like a shadow but because Blaine wanted to live there just as much as his boyfriend did. “I'm proud of you, Blaine,” Kurt gushed.

Of course Kurt knew the biggest compliment he could give him. Blaine never heard those exact words very often, if at all. Blaine gave a quick look around to see how he should show his gratitude, but alas, it was too crowded for a proper kiss. “I love you Kurt,” he said instead.

“I love you too. I can hardly wait until we'll relocate to the Big Apple!” Kurt gushed.

“What about the duet?” Blaine asked.

Kurt laughed, “Oh right, let's still do that.”

Still unable to fully shake his gentlemanly ways (but a little chivalry now and then was still good) Blaine offered his arm to Kurt. The couple strolled off towards the choir room in perfect romantic bliss, happier than they could have dreamt. The duet they would sing to one another in a short while was also perfect beyond words.

“Alright, Kurt's up next to sing and he's asked to do his duet with Blair, I mean Blaine, sorry. So come on up and take it from here, guys,” Mr. Schuester said.

This time Blaine was fine to leave the piano playing to Brad; he wanted to stand beside his soulmate as they sang together for the first time. The song was one Kurt knew he and Blaine needed to sing the second he'd come across it in his iTunes library. It was originally meant to be sung by two women, but this particular rendition of 'I Know Him So Well' was performed by John Barrowman and Daniel Boys.

The scene in the room was quite simple, just two boys expressing their love for one another in song.

_Nothing is so good it lasts eternally_  
Perfect situations must go wrong  
But this has never yet prevented me  
Wanting far too much for far too long 

At the exact moment Blaine broke away from gazing with love at Kurt and took over to sing the next verse. He circled their performance area in the choir room, watching and singing to Kurt with every step.

__**Looking back, I could have played it differently  
** Won a few more moments, who can tell?  
But it took time to understand the man  
Now at least I know, I know him well 

The pair came together in the middle and only had eyes for each other for the next part as they swaped lines here and there.

_Wasn't it good_ **(oh so good)** , Wasn't it fine **(oh so fine)**  
Isn't it madness  he can't be mine  
 **But in the end, he needs a little more than me  
More security,** he needs his fantasy and freedom  
I know him so well

__**No one in your life is with you constantly  
** No one is completely on your side  
And though I move my world to be with him  
Still the gap between us is too wide 

The second Blaine had heard Kurt's song choice he'd noticed the similarities to his and Kurt's story. But it wasn't completely accurate; for one thing it was almost like a break-up song. Blaine thought how if his and Kurt's life was being played as a Broadway musical, then this song would be sung right before they ended up confessing their love to one another.

For the next part both boys sang at different parts but still managed to achieve perfect harmony from their combined voices. It was more proof that their chemistry was so strong it had brought Blaine to the future.

_Looking back, I could have played it differently_  
 **(Looking back, I could have played things another way)**  
Learned about the man before I fell  
 **(I was just a little careless maybe)**  
But I was ever so much younger then now at least  
 **(Now at least I know him well)**  
I know I know him well

__**Wasn't it good (oh so good),Wasn't he fine** (oh so fine)  
Isn't it madness he can't be mine  
Didn't I know **(didn't I know)** how it would go  
If I knew from the start  
Why, why am I falling apart  
He can't be mine

_But in the end, he needs a little bit more than before_  
 **More security, he needs his fantasy and freedom**  
I know him so well  
It took time to understand him  
I know him so well

The room remained quiet right up until the end of the song and Kurt and Blaine were brought out of their own little world when the music stopped. Tears were in their love filled eyes and it was hard for them not to sprint towards another and share a heartwarming embrace. During the song Blaine hadn't bothered to use magic to amplify the number; this time the emotion conveyed in their performance said it all.

Kurt beamed with pride when the room broke into a loud round of applause, which for the New Directions was quite a feat. “We make a good team Blaine. I think it's safe to say our duet was a hit,” he whispered.

No one knew that joyous fact better than Blaine, except maybe for Kurt, and the two smiled in triumph. Blaine thought their duet marked the start of their journey together splendidly. After waiting for a hundred and ten years, the nineteen-year-old time traveller was looking forward to getting to know Kurt better with every new day. “I'd say, you sure knocked me for a loop,” he said back in agreement.

 

Epilogue

New York City. An unknown place (since his last visit over at century ago) to start a new chapter of Blaine's life, that included Kurt just as he knew it would. Now the dream to live with his soulmate in a place where their love could be accepted was no longer an impossible one. He'd made it; they both had. Kurt, of course, nailed his audition to Nyamada and the day his acceptance letter came was one of Blaine's happiest memories to date.

Of course people always seemed to forget how the task of physically moving to a new location (especially one so far away) was quite a chaotic ordeal. Currently they were dealing with things one cardboard box at a time. The tiny apartment Blaine and Kurt had managed to find might not be a rich manor house but it was still their home.

Kurt didn't think he could survive another climb up the agonizing flights of stairs that led to their new abode. He grumbled and grunted all the way until he finally cleared the door and placed the last heavy box onto the floor. “I'm done... I can't do this anymore,” he wheezed.

Blaine appeared moments later and rolled his eyes at his winded boyfriend, picking up the box and placing it with the others in the narrow living room. “You're the one who wouldn't let us use any magic to move things around,” he pointed out.

Then Blaine walked past Kurt and he quickly caught sight of the reason he'd insisted on that foolish rule in the first place. With new-found energy Kurt rushed over and grabbed Blaine's bare arm. “And deny me the chance to see your delicious biceps in action? I think not,” he scoffed. Kurt gave his arm muscles an appreciative squeeze; Blaine had bulked up a little (but not too much) since he'd took up boxing to stay in shape.

Blaine no longer found the idea of showing off so much skin so scandalous and in the heat of the summer day it was quite necessary. “Can I at least use a spell to take care of this stifling heat?” Blaine pleaded.

Kurt nodded, stepping back from Blaine, and watched him get to work. Already he could feel the difference once his boyfriend was done. He still felt hot and bothered but that was for an entirely different reason, not just because of the elements. Since his arrival Blaine had slowly started to feel comfortable in his own shoes and as a result, kept on getting sexier every minute. Kurt was tempted to fan himself from his flustered state but that would probably confuse Blaine ad make him think the spell wasn't working. “Ah, now that's more like it. You're so useful to me, honey,” he cooed instead.

Blaine tried to send Kurt his best sexual look and felt a rush of satisfaction when Kurt shivered in response.“Am I? Well then... would you be so kind as to show me with actions and not words?” he requested proactively.

The happy couple came together without any further ado and took a break from unpacking to have their first official make-out session in their New York apartment. Right when things were getting good and racy, Kurt backed off and pulled away from Blaine slightly. “Wait, Blaine, hold up for a second...” he muttered.

“You're such a tease at times...” Blaine breathed; he clearly thought Kurt's hesitance was just another one of his fun little role play games.

It wasn't, but Kurt wasn't annoyed or alarmed, he just rolled his eyes at Blaine. “Lord, what have I unleashed in you? There's something I want to show you,” Kurt said.

Blaine raised a wary eyebrow at that comment; he wasn't sure what Kurt was getting at and he didn't want to assume the wrong thing. They'd talked at length about how they wanted to take things slow when it came to the physical side of their growing relationship, so they hadn't really done that much yet, save for very passionate making out which was working well so far. But Blaine knew that their relocation and how they were now living alone could change their plans. Kurt was already testing him on so many levels; he was just so darn enticing. “Please tell me what you mean before my imagination... or my young libido gets away from me,” he nearly groaned.

Kurt tore himself away from Blaine, ignoring his protests and hurried over to the newly built dining table to retrieve something from it. He was back at Blaine's side and in his arms before he'd had any real time to whine about it. Kurt started off by briefly kissing Blaine on the lips. Before Blaine could ask what he was going on about Kurt held a beautifully wrapped package under his boyfriend’s face, grinning away. “Surprise! I got you a house warning gift,” he chimed.

Only Blaine didn't jump for joy from the kind gesture. He did nearly the opposite and let out an annoyed groan. “Kurt... that is very sweet of you... but I didn't get you anything!” he complained.

“Who said you needed to? You can think of something that could return the favour later. Right now what you need to do is open up your damn gift,” he said curtly.

They might have only been boyfriends for a little less than three months but already Blaine knew when not to push his luck. Besides, he was very curious to find out what was hidden under the pretty silver wrapping. So he took the gift from Kurt, giving him a quick peck on the cheek in thanks and set to opening it up. It was hard not to rip open the package, but Blaine was not so uncivilized, so he managed to keep his composure. As soon as the wrapping paper was off he let out a winded gasp of surprise. “Oh Kurt, this is marvellous...” he gushed.

Kurt watched Blaine almost caress the smooth surface of the journal, his fingertips running across the words 'Blaine Devon Anderson' engraved in gold along the spine. Kurt was still very proud that he'd found a website that made custom books. The end result Kurt had designed was different from Blaine's original: the binding was light purple with gold embossed writing. Along the bottom was the inscription, 'Look to the past, live the present and plan for the future'. “I know your journal was running out of space. So I thought I'd give you a new one, where you could start fresh,” he explained.

There were tears in Blaine's eyes and he suddenly swept Kurt into his arms, holding him close. “It's perfect, I love it...” he gushed, kissing his neck. “I love you...” he murmured.

Now Kurt was fine to let things get a little hotter -- and he wasn't talking about the summer heat -- and he kissed Blaine back with equal passion. Soon they couldn't keep things vertical for long and they slowly made their way to the bedroom. Each kiss delivered on their wanting mouths felt electrifying and neither wanted to stop. So they didn't. The couple gave themselves to the experience but by some miracle (or sheer determination) they kept their clothes on. Kissing was all nice and good but Blaine and Kurt were still holding to their agreement over wanting to wait to go all the way.

Blaine figured it wouldn't be long before they might want to slowly wade into those waters. He himself felt no real urge to wait until they got married; that was one of the many things he liked so much about the future. But no matter what year he now lived in, Blaine was still a refined gentleman through and through. Whatever his hormones and wild attraction to Kurt might make him want to do, not a single move would be made until he was sure they were both comfortable and ready.

When the boys ended up reaching their limit a short while later, they did the mature thing and got back to moving in to give themselves time to cool down. Once achieved they rewarded themselves one of their favourite pastimes (save for kissing): snuggling together in bed. There had been no attempts to argue who would get to sleep in the bed this time; they both were more than happy to share for the rest of their lives.

“So, are you anxious about starting class?” Blaine asked Kurt sleepily.

Kurt let out an obviously fake but playful scoff. “Not really, no... I mean, I'm a bit nervous, but I was accepted. All I can do is try my hardest and give it my best... the same goes for you too, love,” he said.

“I'm looking forward to bringing my education more up to date. I'm sure it will be better than googling for information,” Blaine said with a chuckle.

Kurt snorted. “Well you won't need to sift through all the porn at least,” he teased.

Blaine took a little break from the playful banter so he could spend some time kissing Kurt's neck, another new favourite pastime of his. Kurt let out a throaty moan from Blaine's ability to touch him in all the right places. Kurt was grateful Blaine held back just enough so there wouldn't be any embarrassing physical reaction from Kurt's lower regions. “Shouldn't you look into making a first entry in your new journal?” he questioned.

“Later,” Blaine whispered sensually.

The chance to make that new journal entry didn't end up happening until Blaine and Kurt got back to unpacking and were too worn out to continue anymore. Blaine paused to look at Kurt's beautiful sleeping figure over at their bed and he took his breath away. Blaine never thought he would find himself so happy and loved at such a young age. He wasn't married to Grace or trying his best to deal with being in a lifelong relationship that would never include romantic love. Blaine would have thought he was living some incredible dream but everything that had happened since he'd met Kurt could only be real. Kurt was his and he was Kurt’s, they were in a new city, and would continue to live their lives together day by day.

Blaine took a seat down at his writing desk (another gift from Kurt, courtesy of Ikea) and put his old journal in the top drawer. When he took Kurt's lovely gift in hand he didn't end up turning to the first blank page. Instead he flipped all the way to the last and with purple pen in hand, wrote six little words that meant so much.

_And we lived happily ever after..._

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is their duet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veXKe_-JEaQ
> 
> Plain Italic is Kurt, bold is Blaine, underline is them together.


End file.
